Cataracts

Cataracts explained

When proteins, naturally present in the lens of the eye, coalesce they form a cataract. In cataracts, the lens becomes opaque, vision starts to cloud, and eyesight progressively blurs. Eventually, there is no option but to treat the patient with cataract eye surgery.

A cataract can occur in one or both eyes and develops in one of the following ways:

• Ophthalmologists now see age-related cataracts as a normal part of ageing, and they treat around 200,000 UK patients for cataracts every year.
• Congenital Cataracts can form at birth or in early childhood
• Secondary Cataracts often appear after steroid use or the onset of other health conditions such as diabetes.
• Traumatic Cataracts can form after injury to the eye, directly following the injury or years later.

Cataract eye surgery

In the early stages, the effect of cataracts can be minimised using strong glasses, but cataract surgery will soon be necessary. As cataracts cause the lens to loose its clarity the only option is to replace it using a technique known as Intra-Ocular Lens where an artificial replacement is used.

Without cataract eye surgery, a sufferer from cataracts will eventually find that their eyesight will deteriorate so severely that even the strongest aids will not help. Cataract eye surgery is often the only alternative to loss of sight.