What? I have cataracts? Or do I?

I was recently speaking to a family member who was recounting her experience of seeing eye doctors. She had a visit in California, where she lives, and was told that she had a normal eye exam. She specifically asked about cataracts and was told she did not have any. At that time, everything seemed quite reasonable as she felt that her vision was normal.

She then went to India for a vacation about a month later. She often visited eye doctors while there, as obtaining glasses in India is often quite a bit cheaper than in California. The eye doctor in India suggested that she had cataracts! What happened to the Californian’s assessment?

After returning to California, she noticed that her vision was getting worse, especially during driving at night. The glare was getting really bad. She went back to the same person who had previously told her there was no cataract. Now, a cataract was found!

So what gives? Can all of these diagnoses be correct? I suspect that there is a way that they could be. Pretty much everyone over 50 has some degree of cataract on exam. However, I usually call these “baby cataracts.” They often don’t even get mentioned at eye exams. This may have been true at the first two exams, but one doctor mentioned it and the other didn’t. At the third exam, when the symptoms had started, the cataracts had probably progressed a bit. Since there were symptoms, the worsened cataract was worth mentioning.