BBC doctor urges viewers to 'be aware of symptoms' after 'shock' diagnosis

A BBC doctor has issued a warning to the public not to ignore certain symptoms after she was diagnosed with a common condition, leaving her "shocked".

Speaking on BBC Morning Live, the resident GP shared her personal experience of living with cataracts. She first noticed something was amiss while on holiday, initially attributing it to sunscreen on her sunglasses.

However, she soon discovered this wasn't the case.

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Dr Helen Wall, who also serves as a regular GP on the show, explained: "Cataracts is essentially a clouding of the lens in the eye, which should be a small, transparent disc. Over time, this can become cloudy or misty."

"When we're young, our lens is like looking through a clear window. But when you start to develop cataracts, it can become very misty, akin to a bathroom window. This can pose difficulties for people as it can impact activities such as driving and other day-to-day tasks as the condition progresses. It's definitely something to be aware of.", reports Wales Online.

The doctor emphasised that there are "clear driving regulations that you need to meet on the DVLA website", adding: "So people with cataracts can drive. But they need to be clear about how severe their cataracts are and how much it affects them."

Discussing her diagnosis, she shared: "I was told that I've got cataracts because I'm very short sighted and my prescription is minus 11 - which is quite significant."

She described her lifelong struggle with vision: "I've had poor vision most of my life. I remember being in primary school and struggling to see very clearly and through time it's got worse and worse."

Although she can correct her vision with glasses or contact lenses, she noticed a change about 18 months ago. Recounting the experience, she said: "I started to feel like things were misting up. When I was on holiday, I was taking my sunglasses off and kept wiping them thinking 'things are just not as clear as they should be, there's sunscreen on these'. Actually it was my vision deteriorating."

She expressed her shock at discovering she had early cataracts during a routine optician visit: "When I got to the optician for my regular review, I was quite shocked to be told that I had early cataracts. I consider myself very young, I was shocked at that, even as a GP because it's not something you think about. You think about it in old people."

Regarding whether one must inform the DVLA about having cataracts, the official DVLA website states: "You need to tell DVLA about some medical conditions as they can affect your driving". They caution that failing to report such conditions could result in a fine: "You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don't tell them that your medical condition affects your driving."