A cataract is a gentle, gradual clouding of the eye’s natural lens that can make vision look misty and increase glare, especially at night. It is a very common part of ageing and develops at different speeds in different people. With the right care, it is a highly treatable cause of blurred vision.

For the technically minded: Cataract formation arises from oxidative modification and aggregation of crystalline lens proteins, which increases forward light scatter and reduces optical transparency. The change disrupts the orderly arrangement of lens fibres and alters refractive index uniformity. As scattering rises, retinal image quality and contrast sensitivity decline, particularly under mesopic conditions.