Cataracts: What They Are, Causes, Symptoms, Surgery

Man staring starting at the camera with visible eye cataracts

Job had an infection in his eyes over ten years ago that led to his visual impairment. In an interview, Job says, “I was not born this way, I had an infection which is why I stop seeing.” Living with visual impairment in Nigeria can make it challenging to find a job and a source of livelihood. Nelson Apochi Owoicho/CBM

 

What is a Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that normally affects vision. It is the most common cause of blindness and visual impairment often related to ageing.

Some children are born with the condition, but it can also happen after an eye injury, or because of inflammation or other diseases, such as glaucoma and diabetes, which can cause cataracts to form.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness, responsible for just over half [51%] of the cases of blindness around the world.

That’s around 20 million people – the majority of them living in developing countries and they lack access to healthcare. Children, especially, require early detection and treatment so their eyesight continues to develop normally.

Trying to see with a cataract has been likened to fogging on a camera lens. Cataracts impair clear vision and, if left untreated, can result in severe, lifelong vision loss and blindness.

Symptoms

• Your vision is cloudy or blurry

• Colors look faded

• You can’t see well at night

• Lamps, sunlight, or headlights seem too bright

• You see a halo around lights

• You see double (this sometimes goes away as the cataract gets bigger)

• You have to change the prescription for your glasses often

• These symptoms can be a sign of other eye problems, too. Be sure to talk to your eye doctor if you have any of these problems.

• Over time, cataracts can lead to vision loss.

Who is at risk?

• If you have certain health problems, like diabetes

• Smoking

• Have a family history of cataracts

• Have had an eye injury

• Long-term and unprotected exposure to UV sunlight

Child smiling with eye patch

Adip (6) after successful cataract surgery on his left eye. He had bilateral cataract and is a client of CBM Partner Biratnagar Eye Hospital. Kishor Sharma/CBM

Surgery

The great news is that there are very safe surgical treatments available.

Cataract surgery involves an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) removing the clouded lens from the eye and replacing it with a clear, artificial lens. This lens is very durable and should last a lifetime.

If surgery on both eyes is required, procedures will be conducted separately and several weeks apart.

In about 90% of cases, people who have cataract surgery have better vision as a result.

How We Help?

CBM saves sight in the poorest places of the world by:

  • Treating blinding diseases like river blindness and trachoma.

  • Enabling adults and children to access sight-restoring cataract surgery, including through outreach camps in remote places far from the nearest eye hospital.

  • Training specialist doctors, nurses and other health workers to identify and treat eye conditions, and equipping hospital eye departments.

  • Supporting screening programmes that find people who need help and enable them to access treatment.

  • Supporting Governments in countries where we work to improve eye health services for the long-term.

  • Providing glasses and low vision devices to people who are visually impaired.

 
 
 
Guest UserCBM Irelandcataract