June is Cataract Awareness Month!

What is cataract?

Cataracts are common and occur naturally as we get older. It forms when the lens inside our eye changes with age and becomes less transparent and more cloudy, much like how old glass gets cloudy. Over time, a cataract will progressively get worse, gradually making your vision more blurred.

Who develops cataract?

The main risk factors for developing cataract are as follows:

  • Age
  • Diabetes
  • Trauma (impact to the eye or head)
  • Certain medications (such as steroids)
  • Eye surgery for other conditions
  • Other possible causes: UV exposure,
  • smoking & vitamin malnutrition

What are the signs and symptoms?

  • Cloudy, fuzzy, foggy or filmy vision
  • Alteration in appearance of colours
  • Difficulty driving at night
  • Severe glare from lights or the sun
  • Frequent changes in your spectacle prescription
  • Seeing double (even with one eye closed)
  • Better near vision for a while

What should I do if I think I have cataract?

Deciding on cataract surgery may not be straight-forward. If you feel your vision is blurred you can get examined by an optometrist or an eye doctor. If new glasses don’t improve your vision and your doctor tells you there are cataracts, then you might want to consider cataract surgery. An eye test can give you an idea of how good your vision is. However, surgery is not recommened simply based on your eye test. You should think about how and whether your quality of life is being affected by your vision. For an example, if you enjoy playing golf or reading, or you need to drive a car, you may want to have cataract surgery sooner.

What if I do not want cataract?

If you choose not to have treatment now, you can always change your mind in the future, if and when your cataracts start to trouble you. It is not advisable to wait until cataracts get very advanced before you opt to have surgery.

Although your sight is likely to be better after you’ve had a cataract removed, you might still need to wear glasses for certain tasks. Therefore, if you can still see well enough with glasses to do the things you want, you may delay having surgery.

Sometimes, people have other eye problems that needs treating, and the cataract is in the way. For an example, some people get damage to the retina because of diabetes etc. If you need surgery for any other condition, your doctor may then recommend that it would be better to have the cataract removed simultaneously. This would also save you having another operation just for the cataract.

Occasionally, another eye condition can mean you won’t get much benefit out of cataract surgery. And if your health is generally poor, surgery may have more risks. If this is the case, it might be better to avoid having an operation. There are things you can do to try to make your life easier. Get new glasses if you need them, as this will maximise your vision. Brighter lighting, especially where you’re reading, will help. Consider getting an angle-poise lamp or similar light-source for your reading area.

When going out in the bright sunlight, anti-glare sunglasses or a hat with a brim can prevent glare from lights and the sun. Lastly, if you still have difficulty, magnifying lenses may make reading easier – just let your doctor know and they can assess you, send you to an optometrist or ‘Low-Vision Aid’ clinic for further evaluation of what tools would suit you best.

Keratoconus Causes & Symptoms

Keratoconus is a very serious disease affecting the cornea. The cornea is the clear, outer layer of the eye which functions to focus light rays onto the retina. Keratoconus causes progressive thinning of the cornea. The usual round shape of the cornea thins and begins to bulge into an irregular cone shape.

This abnormal shape prevents light entering the eye from being focused correctly onto the retina causing blurred and distorted vision. The irregular cone may also cause glare and light sensitivity. Visual loss primarily occurs from irregular astigmatism and myopia and secondarily from corneal scarring. Corneal scarring occurs in the advance stage of Keratoconus when the cornea becomes significantly thin causing a tear in the descemets membrane leading to flow of fluid or aqueous into the stroma causing the cornea to swell and thus leaving a scar. This disease typically begins at puberty and progresses till the age of 30. This condition may progress slowly for 10 years or longer. Keratoconus typically affects both eyes, with one being severely affected than the other.

The risk factors are usually those with a family history of Keratoconus and eye rubbing. Eye rubbing is associated with patients who have allergic conjunctivitis or allergic eye diseases. They are quite prone to constantly rub their eyes. This rubbing actually causes thinning of the cornea. Early diagnosis is crucial for patients with Keratoconus. Signs and symptoms of Keratoconus may change as the disease progresses. At an early stage, patients may complain of blurred or distorted vision and an increased sensitivity to bright light and glare. These patients also usually have a large change in refraction over the course of a year. This is usually a 0.50D of myopic change or 1.00D of cylinder change over the year.

If you noticed you need frequent change in your glasses prescription, then you should get your eye checked by an Ophthalmologist.

A cornea specialist would be able to assess your eye and rule out Keratoconus. Keratoconus treatment depends on the severity of the condition and how quickly the disease progresses. Once a patient has been diagnosed with Keratoconus, the next important thing is to prevent its progression. Patients will be advised to stop eye rubbing and any eye allergies should be treated. Surgical intervention such as corneal cross linking will also be advised to stop progression of the disease.

Gift of Sight – B40 Group Charity Eye Programme

In Feb 2020, OasisEye Specialists partnered with the MP for Lembah Pantai, YB Fahmi Fadzil in the “Gift of Sight – B40 Group Charity Eye Surgery Programme”. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are still continuing our programme for those in the B40 community.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Parliament Lembah Pantai team and our sponsors Orbit Medica / Bausch and Lomb and Alcon for this programme.

This success was commemorated with YB Fahmi taking time to visit these B40 patients on the 15th of April 2021 for their 1 year eye check-up at OasisEye Specialists. We look forward to continuing our charitable endeavours and serving the community in any way we can.

Protect your vision, Restore your sight

Setahun yang lalu, OasisEye Specialists telah bekerjasama bersama Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai, YB Fahmi Fadzil dalam program “Anugerah Penglihatan – Program Pemeriksaan Mata Amal Kumpulan B40”. Walaupun berlakunya wabak COVID-19, kami masih meneruskan program ini untuk mereka yang berada dalam komuniti B40.

Kami ingin mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih dan penghargaan kepada pasukan Parlimen Lembah Pantai dan penaja kami Orbit Medica / Bausch dan Lomb dan Alcon bagi program ini.

Kejayaan ini disambut dengan YB Fahmi meluangkan masa dan datang melawat pesakit B40 ini pada 15 April 2021 lalu ketika mereka menjalani pemeriksaan mata sempena 1 tahun selepas pembedahan mereka dilakukan di OasisEye Specialists. Kami berharap dapat meneruskan usaha amal dan membantu masyarakat dengan pelbagai cara yang kami boleh lakukan.

Lindungi penglihatan anda, Kembalikan penglihatan anda

2020年初,优视眼科(OasisEye Specialists) 与班底谷国会议员YB Fahmi Fadzil联手合作展开了“视力的礼物(Gift of Sight)”- B40族群眼科检查慈善活动。尽管新冠肺炎的侵袭,但我们仍然继续为B40族群开展我们的计划。

在此,我们谨向班底谷议会团队和我们的主要赞助商Alcon、Orbit Medica和 Bausch and Lomb深表谢意,才能让这项活动顺利的进行。

为了见证这一个项目,尊敬的YB Fahmi 抽空在2021年4月15日到优视眼科(OasisEye Specialists) 拜访了这些B40患者的定期眼睛检查。这项慈善活动会继续开跑,我们正尽我们所能为社会大众服务。

迈向优越,守护视野

Gift of Sight – Home visit with YB Fahmi Fadzil

Protecting Vision, Restoring Sight

OasisEye Specialists is pleased to share that despite the numerous challenges posed through the COVID-19 pandemic, our charitable collaboration with the MP of Lembah Pantai’s Office, “Gift of Sight” has continued to serve the community.

One of the most satisfying cases was helping this 11 year old boy with bilateral cataracts who has been severely visually impaired and has not attended school since the age of 5 years. Our paediatric ophthalmologist Dr Sunder Ramasamy, performed cataract surgery on him last year with Dr Loo Su Yin , our anaesthetist.

One year on today, the OasisEye Specialists team did a home visit with YB Fahmi Fadzil to see how he is getting on. His vision has improved and he is managing well.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to YB Fahmi for giving us this opportunity to serve the community and those in need.

迈向优越,守护视野

尽管新冠肺炎带来了许多挑战,但优视眼科很荣幸地宣布,我们与班底谷国会议员的慈善活动“视力的礼物”仍继续为社区服务。

最令人欣慰的案例之一是帮助这位患有双眼白内障的11岁男孩。他自5岁起就已经患有严重视障,并且从未上过学。就在去年, 我们的儿科眼科医生Dr Sunder Ramasamy与我们的麻醉师Dr Loo Su Yin为他进行了白内障手术。

一年后的今天,优视眼科团队与YB Fahmi Fadzil进行了一次家访以更进这位小男孩的情况。如今他的视力得到了明显的改善,并且能自主处理生活。

在此,我们要向尊敬的YB Fahmi表示衷心的感谢,谢谢他给了这次的机会,让我们这个社区和有需要的人服务。

Melindungi Penglihatan, Memulihkan Penglihatan

OasisEye Specialisys dengan gembira ingin berkongsi meskipun terdapat banyak cabaran yang berlaku ketika wabak COVID-19 ini, kerjasama amal kami bersama Ahli Parlimen Pejabat Lembah Pantai, “Gift of Sight” masih tetap dijalankan bersama masyarakat.

Salah satu kes yang paling menggembirakan kami adalah apabila membantu kanak-kanak lelaki berusia 11 tahun ini dengan penyakit mata katarak. Beliau telah mengalami masalah penglihatan yang teruk dan juga tidak bersekolah sejak berumur 5 tahun. Pakar oftalmologi pediatrik kami, Dr Sunder Ramasamy, telah melakukan pembedahan katarak kepadanya pada tahun lalu bersama Dr Loo, pakar anesthesia kami.

Hari genap setahun, pasukan OasisEye Specialists telah melakukan lawatan ke rumah beliau bersama YB Fahmi Fadzil untuk melihat bagaimananya. Penglihatan beliau telah bertambah baik dan dia menguruskan dengan baik.

Kami ingin mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada YB Fahmi atas peluang ini untuk berkhidmat kepada masyarakat dan mereka yang memerlukan.