Aside from age, there are other factors/diseases, which favour the development of cataract:

• Metabolic diseases such as diabetes

• Glaucoma

• Chronic inflammation of the iris

• Intense light exposure (UV light), infrared light (heat radiation)

• Medications, e.g. years of highly dosed cortisone treatment

• Injuries (traumatic cataract)

Congenital cataract is rare (juvenile cataract). Given that early collaboration between the eye and brain is crucial to visual capacity, surgery is performed relatively soon; particularly in cases of severe or partial clouding (in some cases, as soon as in the first year of life).

Disclaimer:

Augenzentrum Vista Alpina AG and the services provided by Augenzentrum Vista Alpina are not legally or otherwise affiliated with Vista Klinik AG, Laser Vista AG, Vista Klinik Net AG or Vista Diagnostics AG.

Problems

• Increased glare sensitivity (especially at night)

• Reduced ability to see contrasts

• Colours lose their intensity and fade

• Deterioration in visual acuity (especially reading in dim lighting)

Cataract treatment

In advanced stages only surgery can help. Here, the natural lens is replaced by an artificial lens.

About artificial lenses (intraocular lenses):

With a standard lens, glasses will still be required for reading and often also for other distances after surgery.

The special lenses (toric and multi-focal lenses) aim at providing for life without glasses, for both distance and close up.

Seeing without glasses from 50 years thanks to clear lens extraction (CLE)