Cataract Surgery: A Bargain, Despite...(he said. The costs are much lower and t...),Health

Patients can actually expect improved vision, rather than vision that simply won't get worse.

"When you're treating glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, you're trying to prevent further visual impairment from occurring," Rein said. "With cataracts, you can restore their vision to what it was before."

Cataract surgery also helps keep older people entertained and more engaged, Zarbin said. "I think when you're older and have a less active lifestyle, things like reading and watching television gain a greater importance," he said.

"You also have to consider the cost of taking care of those patients if you didn't have the therapy to treat them. We are way ahead as a society by paying for those treatments, because they cost less than caring for all these debilitated and blind people," he added.

More information

To learn more about cataracts, visit the U.S. National Eye Institute.

SOURCES: Marco Zarbin, M.D., professor and chairman of the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Newark, N.J.; David B. Rein, Ph.D., researcher with RTI International, Research Triangle Park, N.C.; U.S. National Eye Institute