10 facts about Cataract

Posted by Parth Shah on January 18th, 2021

Dr Parth Shah performs cataract surgery in Sydney for patients of all ages – from newborns to the elderly.

The term ‘cataract’ is well known as an eye disorder that causes reduced vision. Here are 10 facts about Cataracts.

1. What is a Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye, which is normally transparent. It is derived from the Greek word for waterfall.

2. What is the difference between Glaucoma and Cataract?

Note that cataract is a completely different condition to glaucoma, but the two can be related. For example, cataract can cause glaucoma, and treatment of glaucoma can cause cataracts

3. How common is Cataract?

What many people do not know is that Cataract affects a large slice of the population – up to 60% of people aged over 60 years have some degree of cataract.

4. Cataracts: What are the causes?

The natural lens needs to be crystal clear, so it does not have any blood vessels. As a result, it accumulates waste products over time because they cannot be filtered out into the bloodstream. The waste products have a yellow hue, which means the lens naturally becomes more and more yellow over time. This is called “nuclear sclerosis”. This process is accelerated after the age of 65 years. With time, every eye will eventually develop a cataract. Advancing age is the most common cause of cataract.

5. What symptoms are caused by cataracts? 

Symptoms caused by cataracts are diverse – both in type and severity. Some of the most common symptoms are:

• Blurred, clouded or dim vision – even with glasses or contact lenses
• Altered colour perception – for example, vivid colours may seem faded
• Difficulty with driving vision, especially at night
• Lights (sunlight and headlights) seem too bright, cause glare, or are surrounded by haloes
• Difficulty in dim lighting, and need for brighter light
• Frequent changes to glasses or contact lens prescription

6. What can I do to prevent Cataract?

There is no proven intervention to prevent the cataract that occurs with age.  Some things that you can do to delay the onset of cataract include:

7. How is Cataract diagnosed?

The diagnosis of cataract can be made through an eye examination performed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. The examination is simple and painless.

8. Early diagnosis and removal of cataract can reduce avoidable blindness.

 In many developing countries around the world, unfortunately, treating cataracts is near impossible. Not only the lack of knowledge of the disease but also the lack of financial resources. This leads to avoidable blindness.

In developed countries such as Australia, cataract treatment is generally straightforward.

9. Is surgery the only treatment for cataracts?

Yes, cataract surgery is the only current treatment option for cataract.

Other treatments like glasses may have limited benefit for a short period of time, but are not a permanent solution.

10. Is Cataract Surgery Safe?

Cataract surgery is the most common type of eye operation performed around the world.