What is a cataract?

Contrary to popular belief, a cataract is not a type of "film" that forms over the surface of the eye. In reality, a cataract is a change in the clarity of the lens inside your eye, a gradual clouding that can make your vision less sharp over time.

You see, the eye works much like a camera, and like a camera, depends on a clear lens to properly focus images. A healthy, transparent lens absorbs light and accurately focuses it onto the retina (the back of your eye), providing a crisp, clear image.

As we age, however, proteins in the lens begin to clump together, forming opaque clusters. Over time, these protein clumps will eventually cloud the lens, allowing significantly less light to pass through. The small amount of light that does make it to the retina is diffused or scattered, leaving vision defocused. These clusters can also change the coloration of the normally clear lens, tinting it a brownish shade that affects color perception

Risk factors include:

• Trauma to the eye, including injury, burns or surgery
• Toxins, including regular use of tobacco, alcohol or corticosteroids
• Exposure to radiation, including diabetes, hypothyroidism and glaucoma

Heredity can also play a factor in determining when cataracts will begin to form in your lenses.

What are the symptoms of cataracts?

Cataracts generally develop slowly and painlessly. In fact, you may not even realize that your vision is changing. Still, cataracts are the most common cause of vision loss in people 55 and over - sooner or later, you're bound to experience one or more of the following symptoms.