What causes a cataract?

What causes a cataract?

The lens of your eye is mostly water and proteins. As proteins break down over time, they hang around in your eye. These lingering proteins can make your lens cloudy, so it’s hard to see clearly. This is a typical — though unpleasant — part of aging.

Some things can speed up the formation of cataracts, such as:

• Diabetes.
• Steroids, common medications to treat conditions like arthritis and lupus.
• Phenothiazine drugs such as chlorpromazine (Thorazine®), used to treat a variety of conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
• Eye surgery or eye injuries.
• Radiation treatment to your upper body.
• Spending a lot of time in the sun without eye protection, like sunglasses.