Guest guest Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 & Bloom Eye Centers " What You Should Know About Cataracts " : Excerpts: What is a cataract? A cataract is a painless, gradual clouding of the natural crystalline lens inside the eye, located directly behind the colored iris. Our natural lens is normally transparent. Its job is to focus light on the retina at the back of the eye to help make a sharp picture of what we see. As we get older, chemical changes occur causing the lens to become cloudy, forming what we call cataracts. Cataracts are not something growing in the eye or a film over the eye. In its most advanced stages, the cataract might cause the normally black pupil to appear white or dark brown, but vision may be significantly affected long before then. Vision is blurred or dimmed because light rays can't focus on the retina. Can cataracts grow back? Once removed, cataracts cannot return. In some cases, however, cloudiness may occur in the lens capsule months or even years after the initial cataract surgery. To correct this, we use the beam of an ophthalmic laser to open the capsule. This procedure, using a high-tech YAG laser, is normally safe and painless, and takes just a few minutes to complete. http://www.eyecenters.com/cataracts.html Not an MD I'll tell you where to go! Mayo Clinic in Rochester http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester s Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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