Dr David D Richardson M.D. - So Youve Got A Cataract?: What You Need to Know About Cataract Surgery: A Patients Guide to Modern Eye Surgery, Advanced Intraocular Lenses & Choosing Your Surgeon

Dr. David Richardson, M.D., is a graduate of both the University of Southern California and Harvard Medical School. He has received multiple national awards and scholarships, including the Phi Beta Kappa Scholarship and the Harvard National Scholarship. After medical school, he completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Doheny Eye Institute, one of the top eye surgery programs in the United States. Today, he is in private practice with offices in Pasadena and San Gabriel, California.

An accomplished board-certified surgeon, Dr. Richardson has performed thousands of advanced cataract procedures with excellent results. In a survey of physicians, he was voted a Pasadena Magazine Top Doc in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 as well as a Los Angeles Magazine Super Doctor in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He has also been the recipient of the Patients Choice award as well as the Most Compassionate Doctor award.

In addition to authoring this book, Dr. Richardson shares his thoughts about advances in cataract surgery at www.About-Eyes.com and glaucoma at www.New-Glaucoma-Treatments.com . He can be reached through his web site at www.David-Richardson-MD.com or by calling his office at (626) 289-7856.

This book is dedicated to my patients. Your questions inspired me to write down many pearls from our conversations about cataracts and cataract surgery. I thank you for teaching me how to listen, as well as (I hope) communicate the clinical, surgical, and technical elements of cataract surgery in a manner that makes sense to someone who has not attended medical school. You also deserve my thanks for continuously reminding me of the wonder of modern cataract surgery, as well as the miracle of sight. It is truly humbling to realize that I have been chosen by so many wonderful people to share in their joy as they experienced the renewal of vision generally associated with cataract surgery.

Copyright 2012 David D. Richardson, MD

All rights reserved.

ISBN-10: 0984448918

ISBN-13: 978-0-9844489-1-3

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

APPENDICES

Its a curious thing. People with cataracts often have very poor vision, making it difficult for them to read. And yet, their physicians typically ask them to sift through stacks of educational pamphlets and paperwork on cataracts. The documents are often single-spaced with small print and thin margins in short, a nightmare for someone with cataracts. Whats more, the information is oozing with hard-to-understand medical jargon and procedural terminology. Needless to say, it is a frustrating experience.

I really want my cataract patients to have an entirely different experience. This is why I went to work on So, Youve Got a Cataract?

This is a book about cataracts for people with cataracts. My goal is to provide the information you need to learn about your eyes condition and to make good, safe decisions about treatment.

The book covers, in a language that anyone can understand, basic information about how the eye works and what is useful to know about a cataract. If you are considering modern cataract surgery, you will find most of what you need to know within the pages of this book. It will also help you prepare for surgery. Youll learn what happens during the actual procedure and what to expect afterwards.

The larger page size and Kindle eBook format were specifically chosen for this project as they allow for enlarging the text size making it easier for those with poor vision to read.

But please note: throughout this book I offer my personal professional opinion. The techniques described are based on the way I perform surgery. Other cataract surgeons will likely have their own methods and preferences.

In addition to this book, I have also produced a companion audio CD for those whose vision is too poor to read even large print. Copies of this CD can be purchased online at www.amazon.com/author/davidrichardson

Okay, then. Lets get started

ABOUT CATARACTS

HOW THE EYE WORKS

Lets start with a review of how the eye works. Its helpful to think of the eye as a video camera hooked up to a TV. A video camera has a lens to focus an image, film or a sensor to capture or record the image, and a cable to transmit the image to a TV.

Your eye works in a similar way. It has two surfaces that focus an image: the cornea and the natural lens of the eye. The cornea, which is a clear, curved surface, bends light passing through the eye; the lens fine-tunes the light before passing it onto the retina, located at the back of the eye. The retina records light, much like the film or sensor in a camera, and then converts it into an electrical signal. From here, the signal is transmitted to your brain through the optic nerve, which is similar to the cable that connects a video camera to a TV. The brain then processes the signal to let you see the image.

WHAT IS A CATARACT?

Although the cornea is responsible for most of the focusing (refractive) power of the eye, the lens is critical for crisp, clear vision. Without it, we would need glasses as thick as the bottom of a Coke bottle to see the world clearly.

For most of our lives, the natural lens is flexible and clear allowing us to focus on objects both far and near. Around age 45, however, the lens becomes less flexible and loses its ability to change focus. It becomes difficult to see objects up close. In order to focus, you begin holding reading materials further away. This condition is called presbyopia, or aging eyes. Although annoying, reading glasses or bifocals often help.

As time passes, the lens continues to lose its flexibility. Eventually it hardens and becomes cloudy and discolored. Just as a piece of plexiglass exposed to sunlight will slowly turn grey, then yellow, then brown, a lens loses clarity and becomes discolored.

A cloudy, discolored lens interferes with light passing through it, causing blurry vision. When the clouding blocks enough light and impairs vision to the point where glasses wont even help, the lens is generally considered to have become a cataract.

Can you avoid getting a cataract?

I often tell my patients that I hope to be fortunate enough to get cataracts. Why? Because cataracts are a natural part of the aging process. As many as 70% of those over the age of 75 have a cataract. In other words, if I get a cataract, it means that Ive lived a long life.

So, just because we are all destined to get them, can we postpone them? As a matter of fact, you might already be doing the one thing that can possibly delay the development of a cataract: wearing sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection when outdoors. If you are not doing this, it is never too late to start.