Cataracts Vs Glaucoma: Signs, Symptoms, Treatment
Cataracts and glaucoma are two different eye diseases. In this article we will go through the differences between cataracts and glaucoma, how they can be related, and what they have in common. So, if you have been wondering about cataracts vs glaucoma, you’re in the right place!
Cataracts Vs Glaucoma: What Are They?
Before we dive into the similarities and key differences between these two, let’s first understand what they are.
Cataracts
Cataracts are a natural part of the aging process. Because it is normal aging change of the eye’s lens will happen to every single person if they live long enough. While there are different types of cataracts, the most common one is called nuclear sclerosis and it is the most common one in older adults.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that affect the optic nerve of the eye. There are many different types of glaucoma including open-angle glaucoma, chronic angle-closure glaucoma, acute-angle closure glaucoma (closed-angle glaucoma), traumatic glaucoma, and glaucoma that is related to other health conditions like diabetes.
Cataracts Vs Glaucoma: Symptoms
Cataracts and glaucoma share some similar symptoms.
Similar Symptoms
Cataracts and glaucoma can both cause blurry vision over time. However, in glaucoma there is usually loss of peripheral vision. In cataracts, the cloudy vision is usually central.
Cataracts are painless, and in the vast majority of cases, glaucoma is also painless. There is one type of glaucoma called closed angle glaucoma or acute angle closre glaucoma that can cause severe eye pain. However, this type of glaucoma is less common than others.
Early Symptoms
In cataracts, patients can have symptoms even when the cataracts are just starting. Early symptoms of cataracts include poor night vision, halos around lights, and increasing problems with glare.
On the other hand, in glaucoma, patients almost never have early symptoms. Because the blurred vision is in the periphery, early glaucoma has no noticeable symptoms early on. This means that the eye’s optic nerve may be getting damaged and patients do not even know about it.
Key Differences In Symptoms Between Cataracts And Glaucoma
There are some important differences between these two eye disease.
Cataracts
The main difference in symptoms here is that cataracts cause central blurry vision. This blurry vision can start early in some patients as they notice the central vision changes affecting their daily life.
The vision loss from cataracts does not have to be permanent. Cataracts can be cured through surgery.
Glaucoma
In glaucoma, central vision changes can happen but they are usually once the disease is advanced. There are usually no early symptoms of glaucoma even though a patient may be losing peripheral vision.
Vision loss symptoms from glaucoma cause irreversible blindness. The vision loss can be slowed down but it can not be reversed.
Cataracts Vs Glaucoma: Causes
These medical conditions have different causes. Let’s take a look.
Cataracts
Cataracts are a normal aging change. Because this eye health condition will happen to everyone, cataract removal is the most commonly performed surgery in the world. In less common cases, cataracts can happen from having previous eye surgery or trauma to the eye.
Glaucoma
The exact cause of glaucoma is usually not known. There are usually many different factors involved. Some of these include genetics, family history, advancing age, and an association with other diseases like diabetes and sleep apnea.
Usually in glaucoma there is high eye pressure (not always, but typically). Aqueous humor is a clear fluid that flows between the lens of your eye and the back of the eye. When there’s fluid buildup, it can lead to high pressure and further damage to the trabecular meshwork.
Cataracts Vs Glaucoma: Who Gets These Eye Problems?
Cataracts affect every human being on the planet. Vision problems from cataracts can start in your 50s, but some patients can have common cataract symptoms earlier and some can have them later.
Not every person will get glaucoma. Although, glaucoma increases in prevalence as people age there are other risk factors which put people at risk for getting glaucoma. These include having African American or Hispanic ancestry, a family history of glaucoma, having sleep apnea, and having diabetes.
Catarcts Vs Glaucoma: Treatment
Cataracts and glaucoma both have different treatment options. A significant difference is that cataracts cause reversible blindness, while the loss of vision in glaucoma is permanent.
Cataracts Need Surgery
The only definitive way to treat cataracts is through surgical removal. Even if the clouding of the eye lens has been going on for years, cataract surgery can still be done to recover the vision.
In the months and years leading up to cataract surgery, a person may need frequent changes in the eyeglasses prescription in order to optimize vision with a cataract. But a change in your glasses prescription will not cure the cataract. Only surgery will cure this group of diseases.
If a person lives in a place where access to medical care is limited, cataracts are a leading cause of vision loss. However, in a place like the United States, Canada and Europe, cataract surgery is routinely available to the population.
Glaucoma Treatment May Involve Surgery
Surgical intervention in glaucoma is usually reserved for cases where the glaucoma has not responded to earlier treatments. Let’s take a look.
Eye Drops
Glaucoma is usually treated with eye drops. Many glaucoma doctors will choose a an eye drop that is called a prostaglandin analogue. One common prostaglandin analogue that you may have heard of is called Latanoprost.
SLT Laser Surgery
Patients can also have a laser treatment done called SLT laser. SLT laser can be done initially when glaucoma is first diagnosed or it can be done later in the course of the disease to get better eye pressure control.
Surgical Options
Surgery for glaucoma is not routinely done unless the patient is already going in for cataract surgery (in which a MIGS procedure can be done), or if the eye pressure can not be controlled with eye drops.
When glaucoma is left untreated, the vision loss is permanent. Treating glaucoma can prevent further vision loss, but it can not restore previously lost vision like cataract surgery can.
More intense glaucoma surgery like a trabeculectomy or a tube shunt surgery is done less commonly. This is done when the intraocular pressure can not be controlled with eye drops and laser. The best treatment for you will be determined by a discussion between you and your eye doctor.
Are Glaucoma And Cataracts Related?
In most cases, no, glaucoma and cataracts are not related. Both glaucoma and cataracts get more common in the general population as people get older, but having one disease does not cause the other in most cases.
There is one disease called phacomorphic glaucoma in which the two conditions are related. In this disease, a person’s cataract has become so large that it is causing crowding in the area of the eye’s drainage system. This can then lead to a high eye pressure and glaucoma.
Glaucoma Vs Cataracts: Diagnosis
Both cataracts and glaucoma can be diagnosed through a comprehensive eye exam with the eye doctor. In a comprehensive eye exam, your eyes will be dilated so the eye doctor can see the back of your eye.
Cataract Diagnosis
Cataracts are diagnosed by looking at the lens of the eye with a machine called a slit lamp. A dilated eye exam along with a test of the patient’s central vision are how an ophthalmologist determines if surgery is appropriate. Glare testing can also be done to see how the cataract is affecting a person’s daily activities like driving.
Glaucoma Diagnosis
Glaucoma diagnosis involves a variety of tests. In open angle glaucoma (the most common type of glaucoma), usually a visual field exam, an OCT exam and a measurement of eye pressure are the mainstays in diagnosis alongside with a dilated eye exam to see the optic nerve.
In early stages, glaucoma can be hard to diagnosis and it may take a few visits to really establish if someone has glaucoma, especially when it comes to early detection. Advanced glaucoma is apparent early on.
Glaucoma Vs Cataracts: Summary
While both glaucoma and cataracts can both disrupt clear vision and decrease quality of life, they are very different medical conditions. The primary cause of cataracts is aging. Glaucoma is a group of disease that gets more common with older age, but it is not something that happens to everyone with time, like cataracts.
Glaucoma can cause permanent vision loss that is not reversible. Cataracts are an aging change of the natural lens of the eye. The vision loss from cataracts can be reversed by removing the cataract and placing an artificial lens in the eye. Regular eye exams are important for early diagnosis of both conditions.
Cataracts are the most common eye condition. The delivery of visual information which is blocked by a cataract can be restored definitely with surgery. For glaucoma, early treatment involves eye drops and laser to lower eye pressure. Surgical procedures are less common in the treatment of glaucoma and the only definitive treatment for the cloudy lens in a cataract.
