Protect your eyes against cataracts

In the United States, August is Cataract Awareness Month. In the spirit of the month, here are some things you may not know about cataracts:

• Cataract symptoms include blurry vision, difficulty seeing at night and sensitivity to glare.

• By age 75, most people have cataracts. They often start to develop after age 45.

• Some factors that can speed up cataract development are smoking, diabetes, eye injury or overexposure to ultraviolet light (the sun!).

• The best way to prevent cataracts is to limit the factors listed above: Wear sunglasses when outside (and make sure they filter out UV rays), and if you smoke, here’s another reason to quit.

Source: The National Institutes of Health