What Causes Cataracts, And Is There Anything I Can Do To Prevent Them?

Aug. 24, 2009— -- Question: What causes cataracts, and is there anything I can do to prevent them?

Answer: For the most part, in the United States, cataracts are considered age-related. And, simply, as a person gets older, it is more likely that the lens in the eye will develop some opacifications that interfere with their vision. It's also possible to have a cataract related to eye injury, which can obviously be prevented by wearing protective eye wear during sports, for example. Some metabolic conditions such as diabetes can create cataracts. And obviously if a person has diabetes, they want to maintain tight control of their blood sugar. Some cataracts develop from corticosteroid use, and this particular type of cataract would be a posterior subcapsular cataract at a younger age, but the feeling is if a person needs corticosteroids for inflammatory conditions, arthritis conditions that these medicines need to be used. And if a cataract develops, it can be taken care of at the time a person is symptomatic.