Q: My 50-year-old mother has been diagnosed with cataract. Now she has started complaining about difficulties in her daily routine like walking, seeing things and performing her daily essential work. As she is hypertensive, I am worried about her surgery. How should we go about the surgery? How much will the surgery cost? Will she be hospitalised after the surgery? After how long will she be able to see things properly? Should both her eyes be operated simulatneously?

A:Cataract is only treatable by surgery. So far, no medicine has proved to be effective for this. Surgery for cataract is very easy and painless nowadays. It will involve going to the hospital for only a few hours, and if all goes well, vision should improve in one day. She will need to use some drops for 2-4 weeks after that. Ater she gets new glasses, vision should be perfect, even better than before. One eye is usually operated at a time. The second eye can be operated after a few days. Both eyes are normally not operated together to avoid any complications and infection. See your eye specialist who will advise you and also let you know the cost. Cost varies a lot from about Rs 5000 to Rs 50,000 depending on the specialist and the hospital.