Age-related cataract

For a lay person:

An age-related cataract is clouding of the lens inside the eye that develops slowly with age. It causes blurred, dim or cloudy vision, glare and faded colours, and is a common cause of poor vision in older people that can be treated with surgery.

For a trained medical person:

Opacification of the crystalline lens (nuclear, cortical or posterior subcapsular), with risk increased by age, smoking, ultraviolet exposure, diabetes and corticosteroid use. Diagnosis is by slit-lamp examination after visual acuity testing. Treatment is phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation when vision affects daily activities; no medication reverses cataract.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Liver Kidney Yin Deficiency; Spleen Deficiency; Stagnant Heat at Liver Channel; Yin Deficiency with Damp-Heat. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See an eye doctor for any sudden change in vision, eye pain or flashes and floaters, which are not typical of cataract. Herbs do not dissolve cataracts; surgery is the effective treatment.