FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com JUNE 19, 2014 • WELLNESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 35 I NOW wake up grateful every day for what my new hearing technology has done for my family. It’s given me a way to CONNECT WITH life in ways that I didn’t realize I was missing because of my hearing loss. Now I’m in tune with the world again, MY LOVED ONES notice it — and it’s made a huge impact on all our lives. st Place of the an AGX® Hearing 2013 system THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Call today to schedule a complimentary consultation and free clean & check of 516.708.4844 Cataract Surgery: The New LASIK for Older Adults? Queens Eye Doctor Sheds Light on Advances in Cataract Surgery During Cataract Awareness Month in June (Queens, N.Y. June 12, 2014). More than 1.5 million cataract surgeries are performed in the United States each year. Unlike other eye diseases, vision loss from cataracts can be restored, and advances in cataract surgery have meant better vision and an easier operation for many. The nonprofit organization Prevent Blindness America has declared June “Cataract Awareness Month” to educate the public on the most common form of eye disease. “Many people experience vision loss and wait as long as they can before deciding to have a cataract removed, hesitant to have surgery” says Andrew Gewirtz, MD, an ophthalmologist at North Shore Queens Eye Medicine in Little Neck. “Once they do have the procedure, they are amazed at how much their vision has improved. We recommend that people have the surgery when a cataract affects quality of life, interfering with activities such as driving, watching television, reading and cooking.” A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. It can develop in one or both eyes, but does not spread from one eye to the other. Usually the result of the natural aging process, cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss in people older than 55. Although cataract surgery has a high 95 percent success rate, Dr. Gewirtz notes that if people wait too long and a cataract is advanced, the surgery can become more difficult and may have increased risk. Symptoms include blurred or hazy vision, double vision, or the sensation of a «film» over the eyes; sensitivity to light; or a new eyeglass prescription that does not improve sight. The only treatment is surgery, which involves replacing the clouded natural lens of the eye with a synthetic lens called an intraocular lens, or IOL. It is almost always performed under local anesthesia in an outpatient setting and takes less than an hour. Advances include technology that allows for very tiny incisions, along with newer, state-of-the-art lens implants. The safer, less invasive surgery and new types of lenses not only reverse the vision loss caused by the cataract, but can make eyesight better than it was before surgery, according to Dr. Gewirtz. There have been major advances in implant design. The first is an IOL known as a toric lens that can correct astigmatism, which means the eye is shaped more like a football than the normal basketball shape. The other major advance concerns lenses called multifocal lenses that correct both the patients’ near and far vision. “In a sense, it’s like LASIK for cataract patients because the multifocal lenses can eliminate the need for eyeglasses in older patients the way LASIK vision correction does in younger individuals,” said Dr. Gewirtz. “People are happy to hear that with these new lenses, their vision will likely be better than it ever was.” Technological advances in the ultrasound technology used to break up the cataract-damaged lens for removal have also benefited patients. The new, smaller tip of the ultrasound probe now allows cataract surgeons to perform the operation through incisions measuring less than one-tenth of an inch. The result is less overall risk from the surgery, faster healing and a quicker recovery. Dr. Gewirtz can be reach at 718-225-5656. ADVERTORIAL gbaudiology.com Gloria Boms, Au.D. • Doctor of Audiology your hearing devices. PLLC 107 Northern Blvd, Ste 309 Great Neck, NY 11021 $500 OFF Expires 6/30/2014. 186-06 UNION TPKE, JAMAICA ESTATES, NY 11366 PHONE 718 575 0974 | FAX 718 268 2969 UM-UC.COM
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