A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of your eye. Looking through a cloudy lens is like trying to see through a frosty or fogged-up window. Clouded vision can make it more difficult to read, drive a car – especially at night – or see the expression on a friend’s face. Cataracts commonly affect distance vision and cause problems with glare. They generally don’t cause irritation or pain.

Cataract is another word for lens opacity (the Greeks thought the whiteness looked like a waterfall). It is the most common cause of blindness in the developing world, where people do not have access to an ophthalmic surgeon.

The most common cause of cataract is simply the aging process. (But not all elderly people get them!) Senescence causes the lens protein to degenerate and lose its transparency. Other causes are inflammation, trauma, metabolic, and hereditary disorders.

If the patient chooses to wait until the Cataract is fully mature before having surgery performed, there may be additional risks such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes, which may make the surgery more risky.

Symptoms of a Cataract May Include:

• Glare and halos around lights, and night driving problems
• Blurred, Cloudy, filmy or fuzzy vision
• Changes in the way you see colors, or colors seem faded
• Frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription
• Increased nearsightedness (second sight)
• Poor night vision

Cataracts don’t typically cause any change in the appearance of your eye. Pain, redness, itching, irritation, aching in your eye or a discharge from your eye aren’t signs or symptoms of a cataract, but may be signs and symptoms of other eye disorders and diseases.

When should a person with cataract have surgery performed? Currently in the United States, cataract surgery is usually performed when functional limitations become serious, and for most patients this translates to visual acuity decline to 20/40 or worse by the time of surgery. The mere presence of a cataract, even if determined to be advanced or ‘ripe’ is not reason enough to have cataract surgery if you believe you see well enough to do the things you want to do and consider the risk-benefit equation unfavorable.

For an early cataract changes, vision may be improved by simply changing your eyeglass prescription, using a magnifying lens, or increasing lighting when you do visually demanding tasks. Eventually, cataracts get to a point where the only effective intervention is surgery. This decision is made based mainly on the degree of visual limitation the patient is experiencing.