Page 24 - The Book Pi in eye

Rajesh Khanna, MD

Figure 3.2 Cataract restricts light reaching the retina.

Cataract Surgery

When a person has cataracts, not even glasses or contacts cannot
correct their vision. This can make activities of daily life like driving to
work or reading very difficult. The more a person is dependent on
their eyes for their job related responsibilities the sooner their desire is
to have cataract surgery. With the advancement of technology,
cataract surgery can be performed at an earlier stage of cataract
progression.
Prior to development of cataract surgery, there was no hope, and
people often times ended up blind. In order to retain and restore
one's vision cataract surgery is necessary. The earliest cataract surgeries
were performed in India 2000 year’s ago by a method called couching. This
is still practiced in some African nations. European nations began
experimental cataract surgeries in seventeenth century and dominated the
field for the next several hundred years, till the inventions shifted to the
United States. In those times, a surgeon waited for the cataract to become
ripe – white or red and make the person totally blind in that eye. The patient
appreciated whatever vision the surgery yielded. This trend continued till the
sixties when advances allowed microscopic surgery, stiches led to faster
recovery and implantable lenses led to better vision.
In the nineties a typical cataract surgery required admission to the

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