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Toss the bifocals and
contact lenses
Edmond's Dr. Brad Britton first in state to provide new
cataract surgery
Published
page 1, The Edmond Sun, December 2004
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since publication of this news article, Dr.
Brad Taylor has become the second surgeon in the state to be
certified to perform the crystalens® procedure)
By Carol Hartzog
Special to The Edmond Sun
And baby boomers don't want to wear bifocals.
A new surgical
procedure for cataracts is coming down the pike just
as the baby boomer population is reaching age 45-65.
It is the newest technology impacting people who
develop cataracts and who want to be able to see
clearly, near, intermediate and far without
corrective lenses or eyeglasses.
Cataracts are something we will all experience in
the future, some more than others.
Dr. Brad Britton with BVA of Edmond is the first in
the state to perform what is called the crystalens ®
procedure, or cataract lens replacement procedure.
crystalens ® is the most innovative technological
advance in eye surgery since Lasik was introduced,
said Britton. In 1996, Dr. Britton was one of the
first three ophthalmologists in the state to perform
the revolutionary Lasik surgery.
There are people who can't see their computer
screens, for example, without a corrective lens. It
impacts those facing bifocals, who don't want to
hassle with glasses and contact lenses. Traditional
cataract surgery leaves you still having to wear
glasses.
The procedure actually removes the lens, and
replaces it with an artificial lens, which moves as
the muscle contracts.
"It's a godsend for cataract patients, just in time
for the baby boomer generation to start coming of
age – an affluent generation wanting to remain as
active and viable as possible," said Dr. Britton.
"They want to be able to do whatever it takes to not
have to wear bifocals."
The heavy amount of reading in the legal profession
taxed attorney Craig Cole's patience.
"You don't go anywhere without your glasses. You
might go without your briefcase. You might go
without your best friend, but not your glasses."
"In the courtroom, trying to glance down and up to
find your place, reading the material, it becomes an
art form," said the attorney who has practiced for
32 years in downtown Oklahoma City. In more recent
years, he would practice what he was going to do,
with a great deal of memorization. "I can track the
material now, much better."
Cole, an Edmond resident of 20 years, is one of
three patients in the state who has had both eyes
implanted. A dozen are waiting in the wings and will
have their second eyes done the end of the month.
"You can't imagine the restorative power of the new
lenses. It's better than the old type of cataract
surgery with the single focal, limited vision. … If
I knew where to buy stock in the company, I'd buy
it."
In a two-year time span, attorney Craig Cole went
from clear to totally frosted vision.
An active 60-year-old, he couldn't see facial
features three feet in front of him. He is a
woodworker, gardener and knife maker. He sketches
out the design before beginning a project. His lines
were becoming bowed to the eye.
"I couldn't get the garden bed level with my rake.
It looked bowed," Cole said. He's worn eyeglasses
for 20 years, but they limited his active lifestyle
of mountain climbing and snow skiing.
He decided to turn to his family eye doctor, Dr.
Larry Olsen of Edmond, when his driving ability was
becoming impaired. What Dr. Olsen found were
visually significant cataracts, common among people
over 60 years old.
Cole was surprised because he had no family history
of cataracts nor any indication of cataract
development. The standard cataract surgery was an
option, but eyeglasses would still be needed. With
woodworking, he needs to see distance and up close,
and "thick glasses are not too attractive in my
profession."
Cole was a perfect candidate for the new cataract
replacement lens surgery, said Dr. Britton, founder
of BVA, or BVA, in Edmond. Cole is
one of only three people in the state to have both
artificial lens surgically implanted.
"My vision is beyond expression," he said Wednesday
just a week after the second-eye surgery. "I can see
the pores in your face, the threads in your jacket –
and count them."
crystalens ® is a cataract replacement lens that works
naturally with the eyes’ muscles to give you the
quality of vision enjoyed when you were younger.
crystalens ® “hinges” are designed to allow the lens
to move, or accommodate to focus on objects near,
far and all distances in-between seamlessly. Unlike
old-style fixed focal lenses, which didn’t move,
crystalens® has the ability to move, thus focusing as
your eye’s natural lens did when you were younger.
And the best part about the new implants, Cole said,
is the more you read, the more your vision improves,
as the muscles that move the lens strengthen after
years of atrophy.
Oklahoma joins the ranks of 35 other states with a
physician performing the crystalens® surgery.
Unfortunately, Medicare patients cannot receive the
benefits of this surgery as yet, so thus, the cut
off of age 65, Dr. Britton said. Medicare won't even
allow its beneficiaries to pay for it out of pocket.
But medical leaders say they hope that will change
any day, as the issue is at the top of the list of
Medicare's concerns.
"The ones most excited about this technology are
those who have been farsighted all their lives. They
want to not have to keep up with their glasses," Dr.
Britton said. "crystalens ® is for patients who were
going to cataract surgery anyhow, but the
traditional cataract surgery gave them the distance
sight, but they still had to have reading glasses."
"If you're going to have cataract surgery, this is
the type of implant I would want in my eye. Most
likely my parents will have it done before their
65th birthday."
The evolution of cataract treatment has gone through
many phases -- from having to wear very thick
glasses to lens implants, but patients still had to
wear glasses or lens, said Dr. Larry Henry with BVA.
Cataract treatment then evolved into mono-vision
lenses, where one lens allows you to see up close
and another at a distance. Not everyone can adjust
to that, physicians say.
Lasik surgery is for younger people who wear glasses
and contacts to see clearly in the distance. This
impacts about half the population, but only 2
percent utilize the procedure.
For Cole, when he spends time with his three
grandsons, "gran'pa doesn't have to fiddle with his
glasses when he has to tie the hook on Ethan's
fishing line."
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