Eye Concerns

Cataracts are a degenerative form of eye disease in which the lens gradually becomes opaque and vision mists over.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms of cataracts include:

• Painless blurring of vision
• Frequent prescription changes for corrective lenses
• Glare and haloes
• Colours looking dull and brownish
• Poor night vision
• Both sensitivity to light and finding lighting too dim

What are the causes?

While cataracts can occur as the result of other eye diseases, they mostly develop due to age. In fact, it is believed that everyone would have cataracts if we lived long enough. Currently, cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness among adults in Australia.

Less common causes of cataracts include:

• Heredity
• Associated birth defects
• Chronic disease, such as diabetes
• Excessive use of steroid medications
• Eye Injury

How can it be treated?

There are no medications, eyedrops, exercises, or glasses that will cause cataracts to disappear. However, they can be successfully treated with surgery.

Photo courtesy of National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.