Posts Tagged ‘Cataracts’

We Offer Cataract Treatment Chicago and Northwest Indiana

Written by Levin Eye Care on . Posted in Eye Health

Cataract Treatment Chicago Northwest Indiana

Cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness, and the history of treating them is long and fascinating.

Over 20 million adults 40 and up in the US will develop cataracts, and by the time they reach 80, half of them will. Normally, the lenses in our eyes are filled with transparent protein, but the protein can become clumped together over time and turn opaque, resulting in symptoms such as light sensitivity, glare, dim or clouded vision, halo effects around lights, impaired night vision, double vision in a single eye, faded colors, and more frequent changes to glasses prescriptions.

French Impressionism and Cataract Surgery in the 1920s

No one wants their vision blocked by cataracts, but it’s a particularly intolerable condition for someone who paints for a living. Such was the fate of Claude Monet, perhaps the most famous Impressionist painter. His vision began deteriorating from cataracts in his mid-fifties, which is clear from the increasingly muddy color palette in his paintings from that time.

Monet hesitated to get cataract surgery because it hadn’t gone well for some of his fellow artists. He tried eye drops for a while, but eventually gave in and got the surgery on one eye in 1923. He proved to be a very uncooperative patient, but the combination of surgery and thick glasses did grant him greatly improved vision for the next few years. His paintings during that period look much more like his pre-cataract work.

Cataract Surgery Today

If he lived today, Monet never would have hesitated to get cataract surgery. Thanks to advancements, there’s no need for bulky glasses because the clouded lenses can simply be replaced with artificial ones! Every year, three million Americans undergo cataract surgery, after which they enjoy up to 20/20 vision, even if they haven’t had it in decades. Cataract surgery has an incredibly high success rate, at around 98-99%.

Lifestyle Changes

Minor changes can have a big impact on your overall health and a great way to reduce your risk of developing cataracts. Also, manage related conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, kidney disease, and diabetes.

Some easy ways to reduce your risks are:

  • Get routine eye exams
  • Quit smoking
  • Protecting your eyes from the sun
  • Limit your alcohol consumption
  • Fill up on Antioxidants
  • Eat Omega-3 rich fatty foods
  • Reduce Sugar intake

Modern Cataract Treatment Chicago

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Have You Noticed Any Cataract Symptoms?

If you’ve been experiencing any changes to your vision that sound like the above, we recommend scheduling an eye exam. In this day and age, there’s no reason to suffer vision loss from something so easily reversible. We have offered Cataract Treatment Chicago and in Northwest Indiana for over 49 years.

See the difference of award winning eye care and make an appointment today!  Our top priority is your lifelong vision health.

Smoking Can Lead to Vision Loss

Written by Levin Eye Care on . Posted in Eye Health

smoking can lead to vision loss Levin eye care center

The most common health effects that come to mind when we think of smoking are lung cancer and bad teeth, but it doesn’t stop there because smoking can lead to vision loss and blindness.

Smoking is harmful to every system in the body, and it’s also harmful to our vision. A smoking habit can do more damage to our eyesight than disease can, in a few different ways. In a recent Rutgers Study researchers found that smoking can damage vision and your ability to see color.

Smoking: a Risk Factor for Every Age-Related Eye Disease

Studies have shown that smoking increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and even Dry Eye Syndrome. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

AMD is the deterioration of the macula (the central part of the retina where we see the sharpest detail), causing irreversible blindness. Compared to nonsmokers, smokers have triple the risk of developing AMD, and they’re more likely to begin developing it up to ten years earlier than nonsmokers do on average.
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Cataracts

Smoking doubles the risk of cataracts, the world’s leading cause of blindness. For heavy smokers, it triples the risk! Cataract symptoms begin with blurred or double vision, light sensitivity, faded colors, and reduced night vision. Fortunately, cataract surgeries are extremely common and safe, so this type of vision loss usually isn’t irreversible.

Retinopathy

Retinopathy is an eye disease closely associated with diabetes, but smoking increases a person’s chances of developing diabetes by up to 40 percent, thereby increasing the risk of retinopathy as well. Poorly controlled blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the retina, causing them to leak blood into the eye. If the damage is severe enough, it can eventually starve the retina of oxygen and lead to blindness.

Smokers Aren’t Always the Only Ones Affected

Secondhand smoke combines the smoke from the end of the cigarette with what the smoker exhales. In addition to harming the vision of the smoker, it can put the eyesight of others at risk too, along with many other health effects. The most vulnerable are young children and infants.

Vaping: Not a Safe Alternative

Vaping is often touted as the “healthy” alternative to smoking, but many of the chemicals in e-cigarette liquid have been linked to increased risks of these same vision-threatening diseases we’ve discussed. If vaping is healthier than regular cigarettes, it isn’t by much. 

Break the Habit to Save Your Vision

Smoking can lead to vision loss but the most preventable because we can control whether or not we do it. It’s never too late to quit, either. Quitting reduces the risk of macular degeneration by six percent after just one year, and it also reduces the risk of developing cataracts! We, as your eye care specialists, care deeply about your health. If you need resources to help quit smoking, we would be happy to offer our suggestions.

Give Us a call or text at 219-659-3050 to take control of your vision health today!