How Cataracts Can Affect Your Lifestyle and Daily Activities

Cataracts symptoms and side effects

Explaining the common side effects and symptoms of cataracts.

It is no secret that our bodies tend to undergo serious changes as we enter the aging process and inch nearer to our senior years. These adjustments can be subtle, such as a slight difficulty seeing while driving at night, to an overnight change that tends to happen all at once. Unfortunately, almost every senior experiences these changes to their bodies and senses at one point or another during the aging process.

For some, these changes can be frustrating if you are unsure of what exactly is happening to your body and your senses. Even worse, many people often ignore these tell-tale warning signs and symptoms of age-related problems in hopes that they will go away just as easily as they appeared. However, this can be very dangerous to your health and day-to-day activities, especially when it comes to inhabilitating vision problems such as cataracts.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens, which blocks or changes the passage of light into the eye. The lens is held inside a capsule, and is made of mostly protein fibers and water arranged precisely so as to permit light to pass through without interference. Over time, these fibers begin to break down and cluster together, clouding the lens. This can lead to many difficulties in our daily lives, such as trouble driving, problems seeing at night, loss of vision, etc.

To help give you a better idea of the dangers of cataracts, as well as the long-term effects that they can bring if not treated properly, we have put together some basic information about cataract symptoms and what you can do to prevent this vision problem from forming.

What are the common symptoms of cataracts?

When cataracts first begin to form, usually between the ages of 40 and 60, they don’t usually have an impact on vision. However, as cataracts begin to grow, they can interfere with the passage of light through the eye’s lens and significantly affect a person’s sight.

While cataracts typically do not cause pain or redness in the eyes, there are several irritating symptoms that are associated with the eye disease:

• Blurred, cloudy or double vision
• Seeing halos around lights
• The sense of “film” over your eyes
• The sense that colors appear faded
• An increased sensitivity to strong light and glare

What can I do to prevent cataracts from forming?

Because there is no definite cause of this disease, there is currently no way to prevent age-related cataracts. The best chance a person has for preventing cataracts is to avoid certain risk factors that have been proven to increase your risk of developing this vision problem. These risk factors include a family history of cataracts, certain diseases, such as diabetes, long-term steroid use, long-term exposure to UV rays and excessive sunlight, smoking, unhealthy eating habits and certain eye injuries or diseases.

Whether or not you have cataracts, we encourage everyone, especially older adults, to contact an eye care professional and schedule regular eye exams in order to preserve their vision. Be sure to contact OCLI today to schedule your free vision consultation.

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