Should People With Macular Degeneration
Have Their Cataracts Surgically Removed?

Macular degeneration is a big enough problem by itself. But when someone also has cataracts a big dilemma comes up. Some studies have shown that if you have both conditions and have your cataracts removed, you have a good chance that your macular degeneration will get worse faster as a result of the surgery. However, People who do have their cataracts removed could see better, at least for the short term.

A new study has been published and is providing some data on which to base the decision as to whether to have those cataracts removed.

The authors of the study reviewed the literature on this subject and found four separate studies that researched people who had both macular degeneration and cataracts and they combined the results. When they added everything up, they discovered that 6-12 months after cataract surgery, the vision of the patients was significantly better.

On average they could see about 6.5-7.5 more letters on a vision chart than they could before the surgery. And what about the progression of their macular degeneration? The researchers could not find any evidence that the macular degeneration worsened at an accelerated rate.

There is a caveat. Even combining the 4 studies, the total number of patients in these studies was relatively small so the results are not as good as they could be if the number of people were larger. But right now, it looks like it is a good idea to go ahead with the surgery if your vision is significantly impaired from cataracts.

Yours for better health,

Dr. Jack Belitz

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