When do cataracts start forming?
When you’re young, the lens in your eye is clear. Around age 40, the proteins in the lens of your eye start to break down and clump together. This clump makes a cloudy area on your lens — or a cataract.
What does the beginning of a cataract look like?
A cortical cataract begins as whitish, wedge-shaped opacities or streaks on the outer edge of the lens cortex. As it slowly progresses, the streaks extend to the center and interfere with light passing through the center of the lens. Cataracts that affect the back of the lens (posterior subcapsular cataracts).
How do they treat cataracts at the beginning?
Surgery is the only way to treat cataracts, but you may not need it right away. If you catch the problem at an early stage, you might be able to get by with a new prescription for your glasses. A stronger lens can make your vision better for a while.
Can early stage cataracts be reversed?
Yes, cataract blindness can be reversed. Blindness caused by cataracts can be reversed with cataract surgery and the implementation of an intraocular lens. However, cataracts that result in blindness are more difficult to remove and this surgery has higher complication rates.
Is cataract surgery urgent?
Cataract surgery is almost never an emergency. The decision to have surgery depends on the degree to which your vision in impaired, balanced by the small risk that surgery entails.
Are cataracts visible to the human eye?
Most cataracts are not visible to the naked eye, but sometimes the pupil can appear white because the lens is completely clouded by a very dense cataract.
Can you wait too long for cataract surgery?
Eye doctors recommend having cataract surgery before your cataracts start seriously affecting your vision. If you wait too long, your cataracts can become “hyper-mature”, which makes them more difficult to remove, and can cause surgery complications.
