3. What are the symptoms of cataract?

The most prominent symptom of cataract is the clouding of sight which cannot be remedied by using glasses. It is in fact a reduction of brightness, contrast and intensity of colours, since the lens ceases to be as transparent as it should be.

In some types of cataract people may experience a glare and reflections around light sources that impair sight.



Other symptoms which a patient will develop are dependent on the type of cataract, but also on the refractive properties of his or her lens.

The hardening (stiffening) of the lens nucleus during cataract leads to refractive myopia, that is an increase in myopia to nearsighted  people  but also a decrease in hypermetropia to farsighted  people .

In some patients this refractive myopia leads to a temporary improvement in longsighted people (double vision, also called diplopia).

It should be noted that cataract symptoms do not always manifest simultaneously in both eyes. One of the two, may develop worse sight disorders and needs to be treated first.

                                                                                                              

Some patients report that they are experiencing double vision and that diplopia persists even if they cover one of their eyes. In such cases this is not real diplopia concerning both eyes, but a case of double vision of objects which is the result of the abnormal morphology of the cataractic lens.