Editing Cataract (section)

==Epidemiology==
[[File:Cataracts world map - DALY - WHO2004.svg|thumb|[[Disability-adjusted life years]] for cataracts per 100,000&nbsp;inhabitants in 2004:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/gbddeathdalycountryestimates2004.xls |title=Death and DALY estimates for 2004 by cause for WHO Member States|publisher=who.int|format=xls |work=[[World Health Organization]]|year=2004}}</ref>
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Age-related cataracts are responsible for 51% of world blindness, about 20 million people.<ref name=WHO>{{cite web |title=Priority eye diseases: Cataract |work=Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment |publisher=World Health Organization |url=https://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524095804/http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html |archive-date=2015-05-24 }}</ref> Globally, cataracts cause moderate to severe disability in 53.8&nbsp;million (2004), 52.2&nbsp;million of whom are in low and middle income countries.<ref>{{cite book |title=The global burden of disease : 2004 update. |year=2008 |publisher=World Health Organization |location=Geneva, Switzerland |isbn=978-92-4-156371-0 |page=35}}</ref>

In many countries, surgical services are inadequate, and cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness.<ref name=WHO/> Even where surgical services are available, low vision associated with cataracts may still be prevalent as a result of long waits for, and barriers to, surgery, such as cost, lack of information and transportation problems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Batlle |first1=Juan Francisco |last2=Lansingh |first2=Van Charles |last3=Silva |first3=Juan Carlos |last4=Eckert |first4=Kristen Allison |last5=Resnikoff |first5=Serge |date=2014-08-01 |title=The Cataract Situation in Latin America: Barriers to Cataract Surgery |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002939414002220 |journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology |volume=158 |issue=2 |pages=242–250.e1 |doi=10.1016/j.ajo.2014.04.019 |pmid=24792101 |issn=0002-9394}}</ref>

In the United States, age-related lens changes have been reported in 42% between the ages of 52 and 64,<ref name="Sperduto">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sperduto RD, Seigel D | title = Senile lens and senile macular changes in a population-based sample | journal = American Journal of Ophthalmology | volume = 90 | issue = 1 | pages = 86–91 | date = July 1980 | pmid = 7395962 | doi = 10.1016/s0002-9394(14)75081-0 }}</ref> 60% between the ages 65 and 74,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kahn HA, Leibowitz HM, Ganley JP, Kini MM, Colton T, Nickerson RS, Dawber TR | title = The Framingham Eye Study. I. Outline and major prevalence findings | journal = American Journal of Epidemiology | volume = 106 | issue = 1 | pages = 17–32 | date = July 1977 | pmid = 879158 | doi = 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112428 }}</ref> and 91% between the ages of 75 and 85.<ref name="Sperduto"/> Cataracts affect nearly 22 million Americans age 40 and older. By age 80, more than half of all Americans have cataracts. Direct medical costs for cataract treatment are estimated at $6.8 billion annually.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eye Health Statistics at a Glance |url=http://www.aao.org/newsroom/upload/Eye-Health-Statistics-April-2011.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317004848/http://www.aao.org/newsroom/upload/Eye-Health-Statistics-April-2011.pdf |archive-date=March 17, 2015 }}</ref>

In the eastern Mediterranean region, cataracts are responsible for over 51% of blindness. Access to eye care in many countries in this region is limited.<ref>{{cite web|title=Health Topics: Cataract|publisher=World Health Organization – Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office|url=http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/cataract/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927045752/http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/cataract/|archive-date=2013-09-27}}</ref> Childhood-related cataracts are responsible for 5–20% of world childhood blindness.<ref name=LiuWilkins2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Liu YC, Wilkins M, Kim T, Malyugin B, Mehta JS | title = Cataracts | journal = Lancet | volume = 390 | issue = 10094 | pages = 600–612 | date = August 2017 | pmid = 28242111 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30544-5 | s2cid = 208790600 }}</ref>

Vision loss due to cataracts increases the risk of dementia in the elderly population, increases the likelihood of falls and road traffic accidents, and by detrimental effects on the quality of life increases mortality.<ref name="Fang et al 2022" >{{cite journal |last1=Fang |first1=Rui |last2=Yu |first2=Yang-Fan |last3=Li |first3=En-Jie |first4=Ning-Xin |last4=Lv |first5=Zhao-Chuan |last5=Liu |first6=Hong-Gang |last6=Zhou |first7=Xu-Dong |last7=Song |title=Global, regional, national burden and gender disparity of cataract: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019 |journal=BMC Public Health |volume=22 |number=2068 |date=2022 |page=2068 |doi=10.1186/s12889-022-14491-0 |pmid=36369026 |pmc=9652134 |doi-access=free }}</ref>