Eyes are one of the body's most important organs which help people to get through every day life. This means that looking after them is extremely important, however, like everything else in life, there are obstacles that sometimes get in the way, and eye problems do often occur. One of these conditions includes Cataracts.

Cataracts and its Causes

Cataracts are a condition where a clouding of the natural lens of the eye occurs, which is situated behind the iris and the pupil. The job of the lens is to focus the light on to the retina, which is situated the back of the eye. The lens will adjust the focus of the eye, which then helps us to see things both closer and further away.

Protein and water are what mostly makes up the lens, and the protein helps to keep the lens clear allowing light to pass right through it. The problem is that when we age, protein may start to fuse together, and this clouds a small area of the lens which is known as a cataract. As time goes on, Cataracts could develop into a larger clouding of the lens, which often makes it extremely hard to see.

Overall there are three forms of the cataracts. These include:

Nuclear cataract. The cataract will form in the nucleus which is the center of the lens, and it will occur due to natural ageing changes.

Cortical cataract. This generally starts in the cortex of the lens and then it expands from the outside to the center. Diabetics are most liable to suffer from this type of cataract.

Sub capsular cataract. This type develops at the back of the lens.

What Symptoms to Look For With Cataracts

At the beginning of a cataract condition, it is not really very noticeable, and it generally has very little effect on your vision. It could be that your vision may be slightly blurred, and it could make you slightly more sensitive to the light. At night, lights might be more glaring than they seemed to be before, and colors might also not be as bright as they were before.

There are different symptoms for each cataract condition, so depending on what type you have, will be the outcome on what you will experience from it. Something you may find strange is that if you suffer from a nuclear cataract condition, it may actually bring a temporary improvement to your sight, however this will be short lived as it will disappear as the cataract develops over time. If you have a subcapsular cataract you may not have any symptoms at all or at least very little until it is quite far gone.

There is no explanation for why the eye lens change, and why cataracts affects us more the older we get. Researches are finding out new facts about certain factors all the time, about why these factors may cause this condition to happen.

Things which have been suggested that may cause cataracts include:

Ultraviolet light
Other radiation including cosmic radiation
Some studies suggest diabetes plays a role in cataracts

However, tests are constantly being carried out to find out more contributing factors in order to help fight it a lot easier.

The Treatment Available

If you notice cataracts or the symptoms of them straight away, using a new pair of glasses, strong bifocals, a magnifying glass, or other visual aids, can help to improve your vision for a while.
It is time to think about having surgery done if the cataracts have progressed to the stage where it has impaired your vision and stopped you from doing things in your normal daily life. Cataract surgery is a simple, relatively painless procedure which really helps to regain your vision.

The success rate in cataract surgery is very high and for nine out of ten people who have it done, they often regain good vision.

During the surgery, the clouded lens is removed and it is sometimes replaced with a clear plastic intraocular lens. These are being developed all the time to make surgery a lot easier for surgeons and more helpful for the effected patient.

A new one that has been developed recently, allows people to be able to see at all distances instead of just one, and another one blocks ultraviolet and blue light rays in order to help protect against retina damage.

Overall Cataracts can be treated but you should try and catch it as soon as possible in order to avoid surgery.