Prevent Blindness, a nonprofit eye health and safety organization, has once again declared June as Cataract Awareness Month in an effort to provide patients, care partners and professionals with information on topics related to types of cataracts, risk factors, symptoms, cataract surgery and available financial assistance resources. The group offers a dedicated web resource at http://www.PreventBlindness.org/cataract and free materials in English and Spanish, such as fact sheets and social media graphics.

Prevent Blindness also offers the "Understanding Cataract" episode of its "Focus on Eye Health Expert Series." Prevent Blindness president and CEO Jeff Todd discusses cataract and cataract surgery with Dr. Albert Cheung, cataract, cornea, anterior segment specialist with Virginia Eye Consultants and assistant professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Department of Ophthalmology.

Cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens that blocks or changes the passage of light into the eye. According to the National Eye Institute, although there may be no early symptoms, patients may begin to notice cloudy or blurry vision; colors that look faded; difficulty seeing at night; lamps, sunlight or headlights appearing too bright; a halo around lights; seeing double, which sometimes goes away as the cataract grows; and frequent changes to the prescription of eyeglasses or contact lenses. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, according to The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

Cataracts can affect people of any age. Cataracts may be congenital - present at birth - or developed by an infant, child or adolescent. Metabolic disorders like diabetes and eye injury can also cause cataracts, and smoking increases the risk of developing the condition. The risk of cataracts is higher for those who have a family member with the disease, so people should tell their eye doctor about their family's eye health history.

Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations in the United States. An average of 4 million cataract surgeries are performed in this country every year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Prevent Blindness offers more information at http://www.PreventBlindness.org/cataract-surgery and in the printable "Guide to Cataract Surgery" fact sheet.

If surgery is recommended, the eye surgeon may remove the lens with the cataract and replace it with an intraocular lens (IOL). The surgeon implants the IOL in about the same place as the natural lens, so that it results in the most natural vision.

The monofocal IOL is the most commonly used IOL. It is usually used to correct for distance vision. Using this IOL option means that patients will likely still use glasses for close vision.

Multifocal IOLs provide both distance and near correction at the same time. Accommodative IOLs move or change shape inside the eye, allowing correct vision at different distances. Toric IOLs are used for those with astigmatism.

For free information on cataracts or cataract surgery, visit http://www.PreventBlindness.org/cataract. For a listing of vision care financial assistance programs in English or Spanish, visit http://www.PreventBlindness.org/vision-care-financial-assistance-information/.