Friday, January 8, 11:00 a.m.
In the United States, over 24 million people age 40 and older have cataracts, which was a 19 percent increase from year 2000 to year 2012.* Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness, affecting 20 million people worldwide.** On Friday January 8 at 11:00 a.m., Dr. David Richardson will explain what a cataract is, its symptoms and what surgical solutions are available at Crowell Public Library in the Barth Community Room.
When cataracts start to affect your quality of life and interfere with normal activities, such as reading a newspaper or driving a car, it’s time to consider treatment. Delaying surgical treatment for cataracts won’t cause irreversible blindness. However, decreased vision due to cataracts may cause discomfort and even result in accidents. Cataracts often develop slowly and people typically don’t realize their vision has deteriorated until the cataracts interfere with something they need or like to do. Some people start to have trouble reading, watching TV or driving at night.
Presenter David Richardson, MD. is a board-certified ophthalmologist who graduated Magna Cum Laude from USC and earned his medical degree at the Harvard Medical School. He completed his medicine internship at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, followed by ophthalmology training at LAC+USC/Doheny Eye Institute. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at Keck School of Medicine and serves as Vice Chief of Staff at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center. As part of the latter group, he presented a very well-attended program at Crowell in 2009 as part of The Doctor Is In series. He has authored a patient-centered book on cataracts, So You’ve Got A Cataract? which is available for checkout at Crowell Library.
Whether cataract surgery is in your future or someone you know, this free program will answer all your questions.
*Reference: Preventblindness.org. New Vision Problems in the U.S. Report | Prevent Blindness National [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Jul 8]. Available from: http://www.preventblindness.org/new-vision-problems-us-report
**Reference: Who.int. WHO | Priority eye diseases [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Jul 8]. Available from:
http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html
