Deformed Lens Syndrome (DLS)
DLS has symptoms such as blurred vision, decreased eyesight, and glare.
The natural intraocular lens in the eye, which has not yet deformed and has not lost its functionality, allows light to enter the eye clearly without scattering, glare, or creating a blurry image.
Thanks to the flexibility of the natural intraocular lens in the eye, it changes its shape and focus according to the distance of the object you want to see; thus, you can see clearly distant, intermediate, or close objects, similar to the zoom function of a camera.
In DLS, the natural intraocular lens in the eye loses its flexibility and hardens over time, while also losing its clarity and becoming cloudy, leading to a loss of function in the future.
DLS occurs in three stages.
Stage 1: This stage begins in the early 40s when the natural lens in the eye partially loses its flexibility. Many people in this stage try to overcome the problem by using reading glasses or bifocal glasses.
Stage 2: By the time individuals reach their 50s and 60s, they enter the second stage, where the light transmission and vision capabilities of the intraocular lens are impaired. This stage results in increasing yellowing and a deterioration in light distribution, leading to reduced image quality, weakened night vision, and a greater need for light, especially at night.
Stage 3: In the 70s, DLS progresses to the third stage, also known as cataracts. The only treatment for cataracts, which cannot be treated with medication, is surgery.
In stages two and three of DLS, the functionally lost natural lens is replaced with a Smart Intraocular Lens. This replacement improves and balances the light transmission and vision capabilities of the lens, thus eliminating the need for cataract surgery at later ages.
The Smart Lenses used to treat Deformed Lens Syndrome (DLS) are known as lifetime intraocular lenses. Smart Lenses provide clear vision at near, intermediate, and far distances. During Smart Lens treatment, patients do not feel pain or discomfort, and they return to their routine life shortly after the procedure.
What is Deformed Lens Syndrome (DLS)?
Just like our bodies, our eyes are subject to aging over time. People who have not needed glasses for many years can start experiencing problems with near and distant vision.
Have you started experiencing issues such as blurriness in vision, glare, or difficulty driving at night after years of clear sight?
If your answer to these questions is yes, the cause of your decreased vision may be Deformed Lens Syndrome, which is related to the normal aging of your natural intraocular lens.
The eyes function similarly to a camera. The healthy intraocular lens in your eye, thanks to its flexibility, changes shape and thus adjusts its focus according to the distance of the object you want to see, allowing you to see clearly at distances far, medium, and near.
What is Deformed Lens Syndrome (DLS)?
The healthy, non-deformed, and functional natural intraocular lens allows light to enter the eye clearly without scattering, glare, or producing blurry images. Over time, in DLS, the natural intraocular lens in the eye loses this camera function. You experience focusing issues when looking at near, intermediate, and distant objects. With Deformed Lens Syndrome, your natural intraocular lens loses its flexibility, hardens, and in the process, loses its clarity and becomes cloudy.
How Does Deformed Lens Syndrome (DLS) Develop?
The first stage begins in the 40s when the natural intraocular lens partially loses its flexibility. Many individuals in this stage use reading glasses or bifocal glasses to cope with the issue.
In your 50s and 60s, you enter the second stage, where the natural intraocular lens’s ability to transmit light and see is impaired. This leads to increased yellowing and a decrease in image quality due to light distribution issues, weakening night vision, and a greater need for light at night.
By your 70s, Deformed Lens Syndrome progresses to the third stage, known as cataracts.
Does It Affect Someone Who Has Previously Had Laser Eye Surgery?
DLS naturally develops over time and can also affect individuals who have undergone LASIK surgery, as LASIK is a treatment applied to the corneal layer on the surface of the eye, not to the intraocular lens itself.
What is the Treatment for Deformed Lens Syndrome?
In stages two and three of Deformed Lens Syndrome, the functionally lost natural intraocular lens can be replaced with a Smart Intraocular Lens. This replacement improves and balances your lens’s light transmission and vision capabilities, thus eliminating the need for cataract surgery in later years.
Advanced technology Smart Intraocular Lenses provide you with clear vision at near, intermediate, and far distances, reducing or completely eliminating your dependence on glasses while also addressing potential cataract issues before reaching the third stage of DLS.