A cataract is a partial or total clouding of the lens of your eye, which is usually clear. You can get a cataract in one eye or both.
With cataracts, vision can become blurry or less colorful. Or it might look like a fog has fallen over the world. People with cataracts may have difficulty with daily activities like reading, driving, and seeing people’s facial expressions. But cataracts are usually painless.
In this article, we’ll cover common types of cataracts and who is most likely to get them. We’ll also discuss what causes cataracts, symptoms of cataracts, and treatment options.
What Causes Cataracts?
The main cause of cataracts is a breakdown of the proteins that are part of the lens of your eye. Let’s take a look at the function of the lens and what happens when a cataract develops.
Your eye’s lens sits behind the iris, the colored part of your eye. When light enters your eye, it passes through your iris, lens, and cornea (the eye’s clear covering). They focus the light and project it onto the retina in the back of your eye. The retina turns the light into signals and sends them to your brain through the optic nerve. Your brain interprets the signals as images.
So, what happens to your eye when you have a cataract? A cataract occurs when bits of protein and fiber clump together on the lens. This causes a cloudy lens, which interferes with the light sent to the retina. As a result, the images the brain “sees” are also cloudy.
Cataract Risk Factors
Wondering who gets cataracts? Cataracts commonly happen as people age. However, cataracts can occur in younger people as well. The main risk factors for developing cataracts are:
- Age: Age-related cataracts are common in older adults and are often a normal part of the aging process. After around age 40, cataracts may start to form. But usually, cataracts don’t affect vision until age 60 or older.
- Genetics: A family history of cataracts and certain genetic mutations might raise the likelihood of someone developing cataracts. Sometimes, a baby is born with a congenital cataract, possibly caused by genes passed down from a parent.
- Environmental factors: Your environment may affect whether or not you get cataracts. Living at a high altitude makes you more likely to develop cataracts. People who get a lot of sun exposure are also at an increased risk of developing cataracts. Other environmental risk factors include exposure to air pollution, pesticides and environmental chemicals, smoking, and too much alcohol.
- Medical factors: Some medical factors could increase someone’s risk of getting cataracts. People with diabetes or who have had glaucoma surgery have an increased likelihood of developing cataracts. Corticosteroids (such as those used to treat arthritis) and eye conditions or diseases like uveitis and retinitis pigmentosa are also risk factors.
Types of Cataracts
Many times, the type of cataract refers to where the clouding is in the lens. If you get a cataract, your eye doctor may use one of these terms to describe its location:
- Nuclear cataracts: These cataracts are in the center, or nucleus, of the lens.
- Cortical cataracts: Cortical cataracts develop in the edges, or cortex, of the lens. Sometimes, they start on the edge and spoke inward toward the nucleus.
- Posterior subcapsular cataracts: These cataracts form on the back edge of the lens.
Additionally, doctors may use other terms to describe the type of cataract, including:
- Age-related cataracts: The most common type, these cataracts are caused by aging.
- Pediatric cataracts: Children with cataracts, including babies with congenital cataracts, have pediatric cataracts, which are rare.
- Traumatic cataracts: A traumatic cataract may form as a result of an eye injury.
- Secondary cataracts: These cataracts form on the lens capsule, which is the membrane covering the lens. They’re generally a side effect of cataract surgery.
Cataract Symptoms
How do you know if you have cataracts? People with cataracts may notice certain symptoms. Signs of cataracts include:
- Blurry vision
- Colors looking faded
- Distorted vision
- Double vision
- Halos around objects, light streaks, or glare
- Frequent prescription changes, including myopia that’s getting worse
- Needing brighter light for certain tasks like reading
- Poor night vision
- Sensitivity to bright light
- In children, white or gray discoloration of the pupil
Cataract Diagnosis
Cataracts are usually detected during a comprehensive eye exam. During the exam, you and the doctor discuss your health and vision history, including any symptoms of cataracts you may be experiencing. Then, you may need to have your pupils dilated.
Next, your doctor will most likely use a slip lamp, a special type of microscope, to see the forward part of the eye, including the cornea, iris, and lens. Your doctor might also do a retinal exam (an examination of the retina). During this exam, the doctor may examine the lens using another device called an ophthalmoscope.
Cataract Treatment
Cataract treatment primarily depends on how far your cataracts have progressed or how much they interfere with your daily life. Your eye doctor might recommend a change in your eyeglasses prescription or new contact lenses if your cataracts aren’t too bothersome. Otherwise, the main option is cataract surgery.
Cataract Surgery
You can discuss with your optometrist or ophthalmologist whether cataract surgery is something you may wish to consider. Cataract surgery is safe, relatively simple, and usually effective in restoring clear vision.
Cataract surgery replaces the cloudy natural lens with a clear artificial lens, also called an intraocular lens implant. The new intraocular lens may do more than make your eyesight clear again. Depending on the type of lens, it could also correct refractive errors like myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), presbyopia, and astigmatism. (Woo-hoo!)
Sometimes, secondary cataracts develop after cataract surgery. Your eye doctor may use laser treatment to remove them.
Can You Prevent Cataracts?
Doctors are continually researching strategies to slow the development of cataracts. But taking these precautions might help reduce your risk of cataracts:
- Get regular eye exams.
- Stop smoking.
- Keep on top of any health issues.
- Maintain a healthy, balanced diet.
- Reduce alcohol consumption.
- Wear sunglasses outdoors.
Let’s Be Clear: Your Eye Health Is Important
Clear eyesight is a key part of life for most people. Whenever you have a problem with your eyes or eyesight, whether it’s blurry vision or something else, visit an eye doctor. And be sure to keep up with annual eye exams to maintain healthy vision and detect eye issues early.
