SENILE CATARACT

Although some symptoms may not be identified, you can see signs of opacity of the lens by routine ocular checkups. The following are usual common symptoms of cataract:

• Blurry image or distorted vision
• Glare. The intolerance of bright light is related to glare. Some patients may experience more glare or dazzle depending on the location and size of the opacity.
• Uniocular polyopia. Defined as the replication or trembling of objects. The cause of this symptom is irregular refraction of the lens because of the variable refractive index.
• Colored halos. Existence of water droplets in the lens can be seen; this is why people consider this as the breaking of white light into a spectrum.
• Black spots in front of eyes. These are stationary spots and may be perceived by some people with cataracts.
• Loss of vision. This symptom is, though painless, increasingly growing with age. People with central opacities suffer from early vision loss and see well when the pupil is widened due to darker light. Vision is better in the daylight when the pupil is contracted and is felt by people with peripheral opacities; however, they have delayed vision loss. People with nuclear sclerosis may have distant vision failure because of growing index myopia.

DIAGNOSIS

A complete ocular examination begins with observing visual acuity for both near and far spaces, where a visual acuity test should be conducted in a bright room if the patient is experiencing glare. Contact sensitivity must also be estimated if the history points to a potential problem. Senile cataract diagnosis includes the following:

• Examination of the ocular adnexa and intraocular structures
• Swinging flashlight tests
• Slit lamp examinations
• Examination of nuclear size and brunescence
• Direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy
• Deeper tests like ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) scanning, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be done if an acceptable view of the back of the eye is dared by a dense cataract.

TREATMENT/MEDICATIONS

FDA-approved and clinically proven medical treatment such as Aldose reductase inhibitors have shown favorable outcomes in avoiding sugar cataracts in animals, but unfortunately the effectiveness of this treatment for humans is still to be determined and there is no such treatment available.

Surgical lens extraction is conducted to absolutely manage senile cataracts. The advantage of a smaller size slit upon cataract surgery is offered by modern phacoemulsification. The results of the surgery could denote risk of poor visual outcomes if short-term postoperative complications, surgical complications, ocular comorbidity, and complex surgery exist.