Cataracts

Is your vision foggy or blurry? Do colors appear dull or not sharp? Do your eyes hurt when you go out in the sun? If you answered YES to these questions you may be experiencing cataracts.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s naturally clear lens. When the natural lens experiences this clouding effect, vision quality is diminished. Many people describe this sensation as looking through a foggy car window or a piece of wax paper. Some times a cataract will make nighttime vision worse, making driving more difficult. For some, bright lights make the vision worse. For others, cataracts can cause reading vision to worsen.

The lens in your eye is responsible for focusing light rays on the retina, which is the part of the eye that senses light and transmits these images to the brain. When the natural lens becomes cloudy, light rays cannot pass through it and vision becomes blurry. As the cataract develops it becomes increasingly difficult to see. Developing cataracts is part of the normal aging process. It has been stated by many an eye doctor that if you live long enough you will develop cataracts.

What causes a cataract?
Cataracts are caused mainly by age, trauma, heredity, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Cataracts can also occur as a result of eye disease, after the use of certain medications, or as a result of medical conditions such as diabetes.

• Getting Older - Age is a major cause of developing cataracts.
• Birth defect like abnormal conditions in the eyes of unborn babies
• Environmental factors such as disease, toxic chemicals, medications
• Accidents or Injuries
• Exposure to ultraviolet light
• Cigarette Smoking

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