Cataracts are one of the most common ailments of an aging population, manifesting in the fifth or sixth decade of life. This condition, which leads to blurred or cloudy vision, is caused by proteins that break down in the lens of our eyes, forming an increasingly opaque mass. Although cataracts can cause blindness if untreated, they can be treated with a simple surgery to remove the aging lens. In the U.S. alone, more than 4.5 million people undergo the procedure each year with great success.
For a small population of those patients, however, surgery replaces one problem with another. The oxidative stress from the surgical procedure damages sensitive endothelial cells that line the back surface of the cornea. Even under normal conditions, these cells are slow to heal. But in people with pre-existing corneal disease or advanced cataracts, the insult to the cornea from surgery is larger than usual, leading to corneal edema that can defocus light coming into the eye. Th…