Season 3, Episode 8: Cataracts  

Cataracts, which are the age-related changes of the eye’s natural lens, are the leading cause of reversible blindness worldwide and among older adults in the U.S.  As proteins in the lens break down over time, they cause the lens to be less transparent and less able to change its shape. The lens can’t contract into a ball for near vision or flatten for distant; images become cloudy, blurry, less bright, and less colorful. Untreated advanced cataracts can lead to total blindness, which amazingly can still be reversed with surgery. Current estimates are that four million cataract surgeries are performed annually in the U.S., and the surgery is considered the safest invasive procedure done on humans. On this episode, we'll take a deep dive into the most common surgery performed in the U.S. today.