What are cataracts?

A cataract is when the lens inside your eye gets cloudy. The lens is normally clear, so any cloudiness can cause changes in your eyesight. A cataract can block most or all of your vision if it isn't treated.

You can develop cataracts at any age, but they get more common as you get older. In the United States, about one in six people over 40 have had at least one.

Surgery is the only permanent way to treat cataracts. It's very safe and can help you see clearly again and even restore your ability to read without glasses.

Cataract symptoms

Cataracts can happen in one or both eyes.

Most of them form very slowly. It might seem like your eyesight is normal at first, but the symptoms usually get worse over time.

Someone with normal vision would see crisp edges and vibrant colors in this scene.

To someone who has cataracts, this scene could appear blurry, cloudy and/or slightly yellowed.

Cataract symptoms can include:

• Blurry vision

• Hazy or cloudy vision

• Nearsightedness (things in the distance look blurry)

• Colors look faded or yellowish

• Your eyes seem more sensitive to light

• It's harder to see at night

• Halos around bright lights

• Double vision

• Glasses are unable to make vision crisp

Some cataracts can make your pupil look milky white in the mirror, but only after they block most of your eyesight.

Most cataracts don't make your eye look different until you've had them for a long time. Other types can happen more quickly.