Dr. Laura D. Cook: Hi! I am Dr. Laura D. Cook. I am an assistant professor of opthalmology at the University of Virginia and I'll be talking about cataracts.

Host: What are cataracts?

Dr. Laura D. Cook: Cataracts are a change in clarity and consistency of the lens which sits right here in the eye that usually goes along with age. It's just if you think about you are looking through a structure that's clear like the windshield in a car and if the windshield becomes dirty or cloudy, the image that you see is not going to be as clear down the road. It's the same thing in the eye. If you look through a structure that's cloudy, the image that you see is not going to be sharp.