Cataract

The crystalline lens, which is responsible for about 25% of the focussing power of the eye, is the main part of the eye that changes with age. The two main changes that occur with time are:

• The lens undergoes a biochemical process that causes it to harden. This process is a perfectly natural part of the aging process even in the healthiest of eyes and causes the increasing difficulty with focussing at near distances in middle age, a condition known as presbyopia.

• The lens can also lose some or all of its transparency with time and become cloudy. A little bit of cloudiness is not something to be concerned about with advancing years and it is very unusual for the crystalline lens to be perfectly clear in the eyes of older adults.

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The formation of cataracts is more likely in the eyes of smokers, in people who spend a lot of time outdoors without adequate protection from UV light from the sun, and in diabetics. The advice you will receive from your Vision Excellence optometrist to try to minimise cataract formation in the younger years of life is obviously not to smoke, to wear adequate outdoor protection from sunlight such as sunglasses and a hat.