Cataracts become quite common in people over the age of 40. They are a primary cause of blindness around the world. There are 3 main types, subcapsular (back of the lense, more common with diabetes), nuclear (in the nucleus of the lens, primarily aging related), and cortical (periphery of the lense). They generally start out small and patients will notice a minor cloudy effect initially until symptoms worsen. Chinese Medicine works primarily to limit the causal factors of the development of cataracts, surgically removing existing ones when appropriate is a useful approach for those already formed.