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Jimi Hendrix

Where does the word “Cataract” come from? Some say from the Latin for portcullis: a gate that restricts your view. Others echo Jimi Hendrix and say from the word for waterfall – or where water becomes white like the whiteness of a “mature” cataract.

The NHS does about 500,000 cataract operations per year and almost all are highly successful. This tells you that cataracts are common. More than half of us over 60 will have the beginnings of them and although many will not need surgery – many will. Like most people I have a sort of dread of eye surgery but, over the years, despite many patients telling me of the tribulations of medical procedures, none ever told me that cataract surgery was too big of an ordeal. Having the start of my own cataracts this reassures me: the average age for surgery is 73 years old so I may have a few years to go yet.

For many of us, the Optician finding the initial cloudy changes in our eye’s lens will be the first time we know we have a cataract. Left long enough vision will go a bit blurry, colours a bit faded and there will be haloes and glare in bright light situations like night driving. We do not have to tell the DVLA unless we can’t read the usual number plate at 20 metres, as long as the glare is not impeding our night vision.

Cataracts are common as we age but more common if we smoke, drink too much, have diabetes or perhaps after a previous eye injury. There is a genetic element too and some patients get them at young ages.

The NHS is struggling at the moment and the wait for cataract surgery varies enormously across the country –but is usually months rather than years. Privately it costs around £2000 per eye. There is more information at www.nhs.uk.