Am i a good candidate for cataract surgery at my age? i have been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes. i recently turned 80 and am concerned about my prospects as a cataract surgery patient. i don't want any set-backs. what makes a good candidate?

I : I am a doctor 67 years old & have a cataract in 1 eye; so I am answering this question with more than a second opinion. My eye doctor explained to me, that if i can do my work & my activities of daily living with my prescription eye glasses, then i don't need the surgery.My left eye, that has a cataract, has blurred vision if i close my good eye & this is only when i read. So my answer, to simplify is, if there is interference with your activities of daily living then consult your eye doctror & if her recommends it, then get it done. See your eye doctor periodically if you are having any trouble with your eyes as there may be other problems at your age like macular degeneration. If your eyye doctor suggests it & you have difficulty with actitivities of daily living, then definitly yes; otherwise there is time to wait & watch.

Cataract : Cataract is a fact of life. We will all eventually develop cataracts. It is a clouding of the lens inside our eye. Lens become cloudy as our body ages. There is no medicine, food, or exercise that will prevent this from occuring. If you are 60, you will have some cataract in your eye. It is analogous to saying the if you are 60, you will have some white/gray hair. Now, at age 60 your cataract will be "mild" or as some doctors call it "not mature" and you should still enjoy good vision. As we get older, our cataract will become more cloudy and dense. So at some point, your doctor will recommend surgery. This point is when you can not pass the drivers license eye exam with your glasses or if you are significantly bother by the decreased vision. Doctor should never push the patient into having the surgery. But as the patient postpone the surgery, the vision will only get worse and the surgery become more difficult to perform. I have had a patient who at age of 101 finally decided to have the surgery and was very happy afterwards. But the surgery was very difficult. Thought of having an eye surgery is daunting and scary but the other option is to have your vision slowly get worse and surgery more difficult to perform. For this reason, you should find a experienced cataract surgeon who has performed many surgeries with minimum complications. You can and should ask your surgeon how many cataract surgeries they perform per year and how many complications they have.

Cataract surgery: If you have cataracts limiting your activities and vision, then you are a good candidate for cataract surgery.