Cataract What You Should Know - National Eye Institute

Cataract

What You Should Know

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute

The National Eye Institute (NEI) conducts and supports research that leads to sight-saving treatments and plays a key role in reducing visual impairment and blindness. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, contact-- National Eye Institute National Institutes of Health 2020 Vision Place Bethesda, MD 20892?3655 Telephone: 301?496?5248 Email: 2020@nei. Website: nei.

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About Cataracts Detection Treatment Current Research What You Can Do Additional Resources

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About Cataracts

What is a cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people. By age 80, more than half of all Americans have either a cataract or have had cataract surgery. A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot spread from one eye to the other.

What is the lens?

The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. (See diagram below.)

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