All the better to see you

i have worn glasses for decades, what a scary sound that has. Decades, when I generally feel like I am still a young person. I do not actually know when I realized that people looked at me and saw an old person. I still see the young woman I was actually decades ago. I feel like her, I am hopeful like she was and remains. The mirror image I see tells me I am young inside, where it counts.

Tomorrow I am having my second cataract surgery and I am really looking forward to this, not the surgery but the result. I could not believe the difference in the first eye, white is white and bright, night time I can see better (out of the right eye for now) tommorrow the left will be done and I will no longer have to wear glasses. This is absolutely amazing, I will have young eyes again. The information that follows is only as accurate as the source, but it seems complete.

Cataract
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For other uses, see Cataract (disambiguation).
Cataract
Classification and external resources
Magnified view of cataract in human eye, seen on examination with a slit lamp using diffuse illumination
ICD-10
H25.-H26., H28., Q12.0
ICD-9
366
DiseasesDB
2179
MedlinePlus
001001

Human eye cross-sectional view, showing position of human lens. Courtesy NIH National Eye Institute
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light. Early in the development of age-related cataract the power of the lens may be increased, causing near-sightedness (myopia), and the gradual yellowing and opacification of the lens may reduce the perception of blue colours. Cataracts typically progress slowly to cause vision loss and are potentially blinding if untreated. The condition usually affects both the eyes, but almost always one eye is affected earlier than the other.[1]
A senile cataract, occurring in the elderly, is characterized by an initial opacity in the lens, subsequent swelling of the lens and final shrinkage with complete loss of transparency.[2] Moreover, with time the cataract cortex liquefies to form a milky white fluid in a Morgagnian cataract, which can cause severe inflammation if the lens capsule ruptures and leaks. Untreated, the cataract can cause phacomorphic glaucoma. Very advanced cataracts with weak zonules are liable to dislocation anteriorly or posteriorly. Such spontaneous posterior dislocations (akin to the historical surgical procedure of couching) in ancient times were regarded as a blessing from the heavens, because some perception of light was restored in the cataractous patients.
Cataract derives from the Latin cataracta meaning "waterfall" and the Greek kataraktes and katarrhaktes, from katarassein meaning "to dash down" (kata-, "down"; arassein, "to strike, dash").[3] As rapidly running water turns white, the term may later have been used metaphorically to describe the similar appearance of mature ocular opacities. In Latin, cataracta had the alternate meaning "portcullis",[4] so it is also possible that the name came about through the sense of "obstruction". Early Persian physicians called the term nazul-i-ah, or "descent of the water"—vulgarised into waterfall disease or cataract—believing such blindness to be caused by an outpouring of corrupt humour into the eye.[5] In dialect English a cataract is called a pearl, as in "pearl eye" and "pearl-eyed".[6]
Contents[hide]
1 Epidemiology
2 History
3 Classification
4 Signs and symptoms
5 Causes
5.1 Associations with systemic conditions
6 Prevention
7 Treatment
8 Research
8.1 Investigational Treatments
8.2 Investigational preventives
9 See also
10 References and notes
11 External links
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[edit] Epidemiology

Disability-adjusted life year for cataracts per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.[7]
no data less than 90 90-180 180-270 270-360 360-450 450-540 540-630 630-720 720-810 810-900 900-990 more than 990
Age-related cataract is responsible for 48% of world blindness, which represents about 18 million people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).[8] In many countries surgical services are inadequate, and cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness. As populations age, the number of people with cataracts is growing. Cataracts are also an important cause of low vision in both developed and developing countries. Even where surgical services are available, low vision associated with cataracts may still be prevalent, as a result of long waits for operations and barriers to surgical uptake, such as cost, lack of information and transportation problems.
In the United States, age-related lenticular changes have been reported in 42% of those between the ages of 52 to 64,[9] 60% of those between the ages 65 and 74,[10] and 91% of those between the ages of 75 and 85.[9]
The increase in ultraviolet radiation resulting from depletion of the ozone layer is expected to increase the incidence of cataracts.[11]
[edit] History
The earliest records are from the Bible as well as early Hindu records.[12] Early cataract surgery was developed by the Indian surgeon, Sushruta (6th century BCE).[13] The Indian tradition of cataract surgery was performed with a special tool called the Jabamukhi Salaka, a curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision.[13] The eye would later be soaked with warm butter and then bandaged.[13] Though this method was successful, Sushruta cautioned that it should only be used when necessary.[13] Greek physicians and philosophers traveled to India where these surgeries were performed by physicians.[13] The removal of cataract by surgery was also introduced into China from India.[14]
The first references to cataract and its treatment in Ancient Rome are found in 29 CE in De Medicinae, the work of the Latin encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus.[15] The Romans were pioneers in the health arena—particularly in the area of eye care.[16]
The Muslim ophthalmologist Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul performed the first extraction of cataracts through suction. He invented a hollow metallic syringe hypodermic needle, which he applied through the sclerotic and extracted the cataracts using suction.[17] In his Choice of Eye Diseases, written circa 1000 CE, he wrote of his invention of the hypodermic needle and how he discovered the technique of cataract extraction while experimenting with it on a patient.[18]
[edit]