Cataract Extraction

A cataract is when the naturally clear lens inside the eye becomes cloudy. It is made up of protein much like the white of an egg. If you break open an egg into a frying pan, you see the yellow yolk in the middle and this is surrounded by a clear substance (this is just like the clear normal lens). As the egg starts frying, so the clear part becomes cloudy or opaque, changing from clear to eventually being brown and then black. This is exactly what happens when a cataract forms: the proteins in the lens coagulate and the lens becomes cloudy. Cataract extraction involves removing this cloudy lens and replacing it with a clear artificial lens resulting in improved clarity of vision.