Vision problems with Cataracts

If you have a cataract, your lens has become cloudy, like the bottom lens in the illustration. It is like looking through a foggy or dusty car windshield. Things look blurry, hazy or less colorful with a cataract.

• Clear Lens

  

• Cloud Lens

  

What causes Cataracts?

Aging is the most common cause. This is due to normal eye changes that happen to start around age 40. That is when normal proteins in the lens start to break down. This is what causes the lens to get cloudy. People over age 60 usually start to have some clouding of their lenses. However, vision problems may not happen until years later.

Other reasons you may get cataracts include:

• having parents, brothers, sisters, or other family members who have cataracts
• having certain medical problems, such as diabetes
• having had an eye injury, eye surgery, or radiation treatments on your upper body
• having spent a lot of time in the sun, especially without sunglasses that protect your eyes from damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays
• Using certain medications such as corticosteroids, which may lead to the early formation of cataracts.

Most age-related cataracts develop gradually. Other cataracts can develop more quickly, such as those in younger people or those in people with diabetes. Doctors cannot predict how quickly a person’s cataract will develop.