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FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDayNews) -- Medical advances continue to offer brighter hope for the treatment of a cataract, the clouding of a lens that can damage vision.
For instance, sound is one of the best things to ever happen for cataract sufferers. Surgical advances utilizing ultrasonic devices have made it easier than ever to remove and replace a cataract-clouded lens, medical experts say.
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Other breakthroughs involving replacement lenses mean patients often end up with better vision than they had before surgery.
Physicians are touting these advances during Cataract Awareness Month, a January event sponsored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Cataracts are a common symptom of growing old; by age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery, according to the National Eye Institute.
Most age-related cataracts develop when protein in the eye's lens begins to clump up, clouding the lens and reducing the light that reaches the retina. The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
For some people, their clear lens will slowly change to a yellow-brown color, adding a brownish tint to vision. This tint can make it more difficult to read or perform other routine activities.
"Cataract surgery has been one of the areas of medicine that has seen the most tremendous advances," said Dr. Donald Schwartz, an ophthalmologist in Long Beach, Calif., and a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
One of the biggest advances has been the perfection of phacoemulsification, the surgical procedure in which ultrasound waves break up a cataract-ridden lens, Schwartz said.
In the procedure, a small incision is made on the side of the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. A tiny probe then is inserted into the eye that emits ultrasound waves that soften and break up the lens.
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