Cataract
A cataract is a clouding of the lens in your eye. The lens is normally clear. When clouding occurs, it stop light rays from passing through the lens and focusing on the retina. The retina is tissue in the back of the eye that is sensitive to light. A cataract happens when the protein in the lens of your eye starts to break down and clump together. This causes cloudy areas on your lens and affects your eyesight.
In its early stages, a cataract may not cause a problem. The cloudiness may affect only a small part of the lens. But as the cataract may grow larger over time, it may affect more of the lens. This can make it harder for you to see clearly. If less light reaches the retina, it becomes even harder to see. Your vision may become dull and blurry. Cataracts can't spread from one eye to another. But many people do get cataracts in both eyes.
There are many types of cataracts:
- Age-related cataracts. This is the most common type of cataract. It is related to aging.
- Congenital cataracts. Some babies are born with cataracts. Some children develop them in childhood, often in both eyes. Some congenital cataracts don't affect eyesight. Some do and must be removed.
- Secondary cataracts. These often happen because of a disease in the body (such as diabetes). Secondary cataracts have also been linked to the use of steroid medicines.
- Traumatic cataracts. An injury to one or both eyes may cause you to have a traumatic cataract. This can happen either right after the accident or years later.
There are many types of cataracts:
The cause of cataracts is not fully known. But these factors may be part of the cause:
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Diabetes
- Nutritional deficiency
- Unprotected exposure to UV sunlight
- Steroid use
- Some diuretic medicines
- Some tranquilizer medicines
How are cataracts treated?
Treatment will depend on your symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how bad the condition is.
In its early stages, vision loss caused by a cataract may be helped by using different eyeglasses, a magnifying glass, or stronger lighting. When these are no longer helpful, surgery is the only effective treatment. A cataract only needs to be removed when vision loss gets in the way of your daily activities. These include driving, reading, or watching TV. You and your eye care provider can make that decision together.
Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries in the U.S. It is also one of the safest and most effective. It is done by replacing the cloudy lens with a new, artificial (manmade) lens. If you have cataracts in both eyes, they are not usually taken out at the same time. Your eye care provider will need to do the surgery on each eye separately.
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