Conditions and symptoms
What Is a Cataract? Why Steroid Labels Mention It
Cataract · say it: KAT-uh-raktAlso written: cataracts, lens opacity, clouding of the lens, posterior subcapsular cataract
Short answer
A cataract is clouding of the normally clear lens inside the eye, causing blurred or dim vision.
What it means
The lens is a clear part of the eye that focuses light. A cataract is when this lens becomes cloudy, a bit like looking through a misted window. It usually develops slowly with age, causing blurred or dim vision, glare from lights, faded colours and trouble seeing at night. Cataracts can be removed with surgery, where the cloudy lens is replaced with an artificial one.
Cataracts appear on medicine labels mainly for corticosteroids, including tablets, inhaled steroids and steroid eye drops. Long-term use has been linked to cataracts, especially a type at the back of the lens. Labels mention it so that people on long-term steroids have regular eye checks and report changes in vision. Some other medicines list it too.
A cataract is different from glaucoma, which damages the optic nerve, often through raised eye pressure. Steroids can be linked to both, which is why steroid labels often mention them together.
Where you may see it
- The 'Warnings and Precautions' section of corticosteroid labels
- Inhaled and eye-drop steroid leaflets
- Optometrist and eye clinic reports
📄 How it looks on a report
Glaucoma and cataracts have been reported with long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids.
🙅 What it does not mean
- A warning about cataracts does not mean you should stop a steroid you need. Talk to your doctor.
- A cataract is not a growth on the eye; it is clouding inside the lens.
- It is not the same as glaucoma.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Cataract”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Carvedilol
A beta-blocker. The FDA lists it as both an alpha-adrenergic blocker and a beta-adrenergic blocker.
- Fluticasone Propionate
A corticosteroid, which is a steroid medicine, given as a nasal spray
- Prednisolone
a corticosteroid, a type of steroid medicine. The label describes glucocorticoids as adrenocortical steroids, both naturally occurring and synthetic, that are readily absorbed from the stomach and intestines.
- Quetiapine
An atypical antipsychotic medicine
- Tamsulosin
An alpha-blocker medicine. The label calls it an alpha 1 adrenoceptor antagonist that acts on the prostate. The FDA class is not listed.
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Cataract” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
- NCI Dictionary definition ↗
US National Cancer Institute: “cataract”
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