KEY POINTS

­•   Cataract is a clouding of the lens just behind the iris (the coloured part of the eye).

•   Everyone will get cataract if they live long enough.

•   Everyone will require cataract surgery, for some in their early fifties, for others in their nineties.

•   The most common cause of cataract is age. Some people are born with cataracts. Other common causes are trauma, radiation, infections, certain drugs, and systemic diseases like diabetes.

•   Cataract surgery is one of the great success stories of modern medicine.

­•   Cataract surgery is still a delicate surgical procedure and as with any surgery complications are possible including in rare instances blindness.