When Cataracts Are Left Untreated
Untreated cataracts can impact vision causing blurriness, night vision issues, haziness, loss of colour definition, double vision, sensitivity to sunlight, and even the potential loss of vision and total blindness.
What happens if cataracts are left untreated?
Left untreated, cataracts can lead to vision loss, vision impairment and even blindness. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cataracts are the number one cause of blindness in the world. The Centre for Eye Research Australia (link here to CERA https://www.cera.org.au) publishes that in Australia, cataracts are the biggest culprit for vision loss not able to be overcome by glasses.
Cataracts can cause:
- Cloudy, blurry or hazy vision.
- Impaired night vision.
- Faded colours and difficulty seeing colors.
- Glare and haloes around lights.
- Sensitivity to light.
- Double vision.
- Yellowing or tinting of colours and vision in general.
Untreated, cataracts can get large enough to impair vision completely. In some cases they can lead to vision loss and total blindness. Cataract surgery is a safe and common procedure that can replace the cloudy lens with a new, clear artificial lens. Laser-assisted technology is often used to accomplish this.