Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide
Cataracts
DEFINITION
- A clouding or opacity of the natural crystalline lens of the eye
- When glucose increases in the lens (as in hyperglycemic states), the sorbitol pathway is activated more than glycolysis; sorbitol accumulates and is retained in the lens.
- Along with sorbitol, fructose also builds up in a lens surrounded by a high-glucose environment.
- These two sugars increase the osmotic pressure within the lens, drawing in water.
- The result is swelling of the lens fibers, disruption of the normal cytoskeletal architecture, and ultimately, lens opacification[6].
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Last updated: July 4, 2020
Citation
Kalyani, Sachin. "Cataracts." Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2020. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547025/7/Cataracts.
Kalyani S. Cataracts. Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2020. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547025/7/Cataracts. Accessed September 27, 2025.
Kalyani, S. (2020). Cataracts. In Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547025/7/Cataracts
Kalyani S. Cataracts [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2020. [cited 2025 September 27]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547025/7/Cataracts.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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