Cataracts develop as part of the aging process, so everyone is at risk eventually. By age 75, about 70 percent of people will have cataracts. With age, our eye's lens slowly becomes less flexible, less transparent and thicker. Then areas of the lens become cloudy as protein in the lens begins to clump together.
Cataract risk factors
These factors increase your risk of developing cataracts:
- Advanced age;
- Diabetes;
- A family history of cataracts;
- Extensive exposure to sunlight;
- Smoking;
- Obesity;
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- High blood pressure;
- Previous eye injury or inflammation (swelling) in the eye;
- Previous eye surgery;
- Long-term use of steroid medication (especially combined use of oral and inhaled steroids).
If you have any of these risk factors for cataract, you should schedule an appointment with your ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.).
Next Page: What Causes Cataracts?
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