The National Eye Institute reports that more than 24.4 million Americans age 40 and older experience this eye disease in their older years. It also affects millions around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

“My husband had the surgery … and he literally said, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner,'” said Cheryl Ladd.

We’re talking about cataracts — and by age 75, roughly half of all Americans will have them.

With cataracts, a clouding develops in the eye lens. Cataract can reduce perception of colors and lead to vision loss or blindness if untreated. Yet few people really know much about their risk for cataracts, or the treatments available.

“I was so uninformed, as so many people are, about what cataracts are and what your treatment options are,” former “Charlie’s Angel” star Cheryl Ladd, 64, told FoxNews.com. “My husband had the surgery … and he literally said to me, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner.'”

As part of Cataract Awareness Month, Ladd has taken that experience and teamed up with Alcon to promote a Know Your Cataract EYE-Q campaign. Not only has her husband undergone surgery — her brother will soon have the procedure done as well.

Surgery is the go-to treatment and involves removing the opaque lens and implanting an artificial lens. The procedure is typically performed on an outpatient basis with little pain.

The surgery is one of the most successful procedures performed in America, with a 98 percent success rate.

There are disparities associated with the surgery, however. A 2010 study in the American Journal of Medical Quality found that Medicare patients were 5.5 more times likely to have the surgery than those going through Veterans Affairs. The authors were unsure why the difference existed, because older veterans also have Medicare coverage in addition to care through the VA. But VA doctors and hospitals do not have the same financial incentives to perform the surgery compared to physicians and facilities outside of the VA system, they noted.

Keeping It Safe
A recent report from the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction in Massachusetts said there were 28 serious cataract surgery errors reported from 2011 and 2015. These included putting in the wrong type of lens, inappropriate use of nerve block that can cause vision loss, and anesthetizing the wrong eye.

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Despite the errors, Dr. Edward Holland, chairperson of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery program committee, said the surgery is one of the most successful procedures performed in America. It has a 98 percent success rate, according to the Cincinnati-based eye doctor.

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In the past, people would wait until the condition got worse to have surgery. These days, doctors perform it sooner than later, depending on the significance of the cataracts. Typically when someone cannot drive at night any longer, “that’s a very common indication for cataract surgery,” Holland told LifeZette. Today’s surgeries use smaller incisions and no sutures, and patients can resume normal activities in 24 to 48 hours.

There are two types of intraocular lenses used: monofocal and multifocal. Monofocal lenses are focused at a precise point, so patients may still need reading glasses and corrective care for astigmatism. Multifocal lenses allow people to see at near and far locations, and some patients do not need glasses after the operation to see perfectly. New lens technologies can also correct astigmatism during the same surgery, Holland said.

An accommodating intraocular lens would allow patients to see near and far at all different points in between. He expects that to be more widely used in the next decade or so.

“Ultimately we want a lens that can allow the patient to see distance and near points,” Holland noted.

Other ‘Insights’
The treatment of cataracts has been largely linked to other positive outcomes. A 2013 study of Australians found that cataract surgery led to a 40 percent lower long-term death risk in those who had the surgery. It’s also been linked to lower occurrences of hip fractures, dizziness, and car accidents.

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A recent study in Science found eye drops (known as “compound 29”) could partly reverse cataracts in mice. It works by dissolving crystallins that accumulate and cause the cloudiness. Clinical trials in humans would be needed to see if it could be viable as a solution.

Vitamin C has been shown to be preventative, and statins have been shown to prevent the most common type of cataract. Sun-sensitizing medication and sun exposure have been linked to developing cataracts. Smoking, hypertension, and diabetes are risk factors for common cataracts.

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Symptoms to Note 
How do you know if you have cataracts? Aside from cloudy vision, symptoms can include seeing halos around lights, changing prescriptions frequently, difficulty seeing at night, sensitivity, viewing faded colors, and double vision in one eye.

“If you have a grandparent or a parent and you see their lives are becoming smaller but they seem to be quite healthy, suggesting that they get an eye test could be really important. Sometimes it happens so gradually that you don’t realize [they’re] not seeing well,” Ladd told FoxNews.com.

The Know Your Cataract EYE-Q campaign, which Ladd is promoting, features a website with resources and a quiz. Just 25 percent of people over age 60 really understand the condition and its treatments, a survey found.