Inside the eye, behind the coloured iris, is a clear lens that focuses light. A cataract is a clouding of that lens. Most cataracts come with age, but diabetes, years of sunlight, smoking and some medicines can make them develop earlier.
Signs include vision that slowly becomes blurred or misty, more glare from headlights at night, colours that look faded and prescriptions that change more often than before.
Early on, updated spectacles, good lighting for reading and sunglasses outdoors keep you seeing comfortably. Cataracts usually change over months or years, so there is time to plan.
When a cataract starts to get in the way of daily life, such as driving, reading or work, we refer you to an ophthalmologist. Cataract surgery is a common day procedure that replaces the cloudy lens with a clear artificial one. We keep checking your eyes until then.