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Can exposure to the sun increase the onset of cataracts?

A cataract is a gradual clouding of the eye’s natural crystalline lens. The lens assists with focusing light rays onto the retina, which in turn translates the image to the brain. After the cataract starts to cloud, it is impossible to return the lens to its clear state with drugs or medications. Cataract surgery will be required. Some people think cataracts are a growth on the outside of the eye, but it is a clouding effect occurring with the lens located inside your eye just behind the pupil. Various factors may increase the onset of a cataract, but virtually anyone who gets old enough will sooner or later develop cataracts. The National Eye Institute (NEI) has listed UV radiation and cigarette smoking as being potentially likely to increase the development of cataracts.