The eye is made up of 3 core elements

Cornea – front of eye that allows light to enter the eye and the shape of this alters the direction in which light enters the eye

Lens – the light entering the eye is automatically focussed by the internal lens of your eye, almost like a highly sophisticated camera

Retina – contains essential layers at the back of your eye that allow the ‘focussed’ light to be converted into an electrical signal which is passed along the optic nerve and interpreted by the brain.

Cataracts affect the middle layer – the lens of your eye. Cataracts are caused by the lens of your eye becoming cloudy or misty, typically caused by age (but not exclusively). They are formed by the proteins of your lens breaking down and forming clumps & thereby obstructing light to enter your eye (depending on the severity). This in turns means that you are seeing through a foggy lens which can be described as looking through a dirty window. The most common cause of cataracts is age, but they can affect all ages even babies. Other potential causes include injury to the eye, certain medication like corticosteroids, underlying health conditions such as diabetes & exposure to radiation including high levels of UV radiation to name a few.

Cataracts can be be treated by surgery, which is the only effective treatment. The treatment is carried out by an ophthalmologist in either a hospital setting or private theatre, and you would be discharged the same day in most cases. In most cases the procedure is performed under local anaesthetic and you would be able to go home the same day. The procedure is a common surgery where an incision is made in the cornea and the cloudy lens is cracked and the lens gets sucked up and replaced with an artificial implanted lens (IOL). In most cases you will have clear vision again within a few hours post-surgery.