A cataract is a clouding of the lens in your eye. It happens when the protein in the lens of your eye starts to breakdown and clump together. This causes the lens to become cloudy and affects your eyesight. In its early stages, a cataract may not cause a problem. The cloudiness may affect only a small part of the lens. But as the cataract may grow larger over time, it may affect more of the lens. This can make it harder for you to see clearly. If it reaches the retina,it becomes even harder to see.
SYMPTOMS OF CATARACT
Symptoms may be a bit different for each person. They may include;
1 Cloudy or blurry vision.
2 Lights causing a glare or a halo.
3 Poor night vision.
4 Double vision in the affected eyes.
5 Increase in myopia and the need to change your eyeglass prescriptions always.
TYPES OF CATARACTS
1 NUCLEAR SCLEROTIC CATARACT
This forms in the center of the lens known as nucleus. As the cataract gets worse, your near vision may actually get better. It is called second sight, but does not last long.
SYMPTOMS;
Lens turns yellow or even brown, difficulties seeing tiny prints, inability to see colours sharply, halos around bright light at night.
2 CORTICAL CATARACTS; this forms at the edge of the lens known as the cortex. It starts as white wedges like triangles that points towards the center of your eye. All cataracts as they grow causes scattering of light which is known as glare thereby causing vision discomfort. [t is always advisable to remove this type of cataract early.
3 POSTERIOR SUBCAPSULAR CATARACT
This forms inside the back of your lens capsule ,which is the part of the eye that sorrounds the lens and holds it firm in firm position. These cataracts are directly in the way of light as it passes through your lens. They progress faster than other types of cataracts . They affect near vision and makes it difficult for one to see bright light.
4 ANTERIOR SUBCAPSULAR CATARACT
These type of cataracts forms inside the front of the lens capsule. It can be caused by an eye injury or edema[swelling] in your eyes.
5 CONGENITAL CATARACTS
These are cataracts that you are born with or that forms when you are a child. When congenital cataracts are small or outside the center of the lens,they may not need treatment but when a baby is born with congenital cataract that blocks vision, eye doctors remove it so as to prevent the eye from being lazy because because it can stop the eye from learning to see.
Some congenital cataracts are linked to your genes and others are limked to health issues like rubella that a mother had during pregnancy
TREATMENT
Cataract surgery is the only way to remove cataracts and restore your clear vision. During cataract surgery,an Ophthalmologist removes your clouded lens and replaces it with an intraocular lens[IOL]. An IOL is an artificial lens that permanently stays in your eye. The benefit of an IOL is that its clear-like your natural lens should be. Another benefit is that it can correct refractive errors,allowing you to rely less on glasses or contact lenses after surgery.