A cataract is a clouding of a part of the eye known as the crystalline lens. The lens is a clear tissue located behind the pupil - the dark circular opening in the middle of the iris or colored part of the eye. The lens works with the transparent cornea, which covers the eye's surface, to focus light on the retina at the back of the eye. When the lens becomes cloudy, or cataractous, light cannot pass to the retina properly, and vision is blurred and decreased. Although cataracts result from many conditions, the most frequent cause is the natural aging process. Other causes may include injury, chronic eye disease, and other system-wide diseases such as diabetes.

More than half the people over age 65 have some degree of cataract development. Cataracts can take from a few months to several years to develop. Sometimes the cataract stops developing in its early stages, and vision is only slightly decreased. If it continues to develop, vision is impaired and treatment is necessary.

It is a widely held belief that surgery to remove the diseased lens is the only effective treatment for cataracts. In cases of marked vision impairment, cataract removal and lens implant may be the only alternative. Cataract surgery is now a frequently performed operation in most parts of the world. More than one million cataract procedures are performed every year, and in the majority of those cases, the diseased tissue is replaced with an artificial device known as an intraocular lens implant. Recently a Japanese drug, phenoxazine carboxylic acid (Catalin), has been shown to be effective in inhibiting, as well as reversing cataract formation.

During cataract formation the normal protective mechanisms are unable to prevent free radical damage. The lens, like many other tissues of the body, is dependent on adequate levels and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione (GSH), and adequate levels of the accessory antioxidants vitamins E and C and selenium, to help prevent free radical damage.

Many natural doctors believe that the progression of early cataracts can be stopped. Antioxidant vitamins, minerals and herbs have been shown by clinical studies to be effective in preventing cataracts when detected early. At least 30 nutrients are beneficial in strengthening the integrity of eye tissue.

Alex Duarte, OD, PhD has written a small book called Cataract Breakthrough. In it he presents over nine years of clinical research showing how nutritional medicines can control early cataract formation. Vitamin and mineral formulations developed in France as a result of over twenty-five years of additional research are also explained, including case histories, and exact formulations.