LOS ANGELES, Calif. — More than 20 million Americans age 40 and older have cataracts, according to the National Eye Institute. 

What You Need To Know

  • Cataracts occur when the proteins found in our eye lens begin to break down with age and, in turn, become cloudy, leading to vision loss

  • Aside from age, having medical problems such as body trauma or diabetes can cause cataracts in younger patients 

  • Having regular eye exams can help detect early cataract formation and prepare for surgery 

  • Each year, 3.4 million people get cataract surgery where the natural lens is removed and replaced with an articial lens

Hazy vision, faded colors and trouble seeing well at night are all symptoms of cataracts, and some can greatly disrupt daily activities. 

74-year-old Victor Cannon, a Los Angeles resident, began having some of these symptoms eight years ago. Despite having had eye vision problems since his teen years, he says this time, even new glasses couldn't save him. 

"I had a new pair of glasses in January, and by March, they didn't really work anymore. So everything started getting fuzzy," said Cannon. 

Eventually, he says the vision loss worsened. 

"It starts to disintegrate and get fuzzy. So you don't really see colors. It's difficult," said Cannon. 

His opthalmologist, Dr. Diana Shiba at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles diagnosed him with cataracts. 

"So in terms of the prevalence of cataracts, it is the No. 1 cause of vision loss in the United States and the No. 1 cause of blindness in the world," Shiba said.

Cataracts occur when the proteins found in our eye lens begin to break down with age and, in turn, become cloudy, leading to vision loss.

Shiba says cataracts are as inevitable as wrinkles, given they usually come with age. 

However, vision loss is something that can be reversed through surgery. 

"So what we do is we go through the pupil, we remove that cataract via emulsification, which is kind of breaking it up by ultrasound. We remove it and in its place would go an artificial lens made out of acrylic. And what's great is the surgery usually takes, on average, you know, anywhere from a non-complicated cataract about 10 to 20 minutes or so," Shiba explained. 

She says the procedure completely changes the course for patients, which was the case for Cannon, who underwent surgery earlier this year. 

"I could see in 3D, remember when you have those photographs in that stereoscope that you look and all of a sudden everything jumps out in 3-D? That's what's been happening since I had surgery," said Cannon. 

He is now back on outside walks and enjoys light yoga workouts. He says the new vision makes him feel more energized. 

With 3.4 million surgeries done every year, Dr. Shiba says it is one of the most common outpatient surgeries in the country. 

Although they expect to see that number grow with the aging population, she is seeing trends of younger people developing cataracts as well.

"If you have uncontrolled diabetes, that can actually promote the development of cataracts very early as well," she said. 

Cannon advises people in his situation to have eye checkups regularly and to not delay treatment.