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A cataract is the gradual clouding of the lens inside the eye due to age or medical related changes. As lenses become more cloudy, they can cause visual symptoms including increased glare and haloes, difficulty driving (particularly at night), blurry vision, or the need for more light when reading. When left untreated, cataracts can even cause complete vision loss.

Symptoms

• As cataracts develop, patients often experience:
• Increased glare, often with nighttime driving
• Halos around bright lights
• Dim or dull vision
• Cloudy or blurry vision

Causes

Cataracts are caused primarily by age, but are also associated with certain medications and medical conditions, such as diabetes, history of eye trauma, vitamin deficiencies, and even UV light exposure.

Treatment

The treatment for symptomatic cataracts is cataract surgery. During your consultation for cataracts, your physician will evaluate the total health of your eye and look for any other conditions, including dry eye, glaucoma, macular degeneration, or other ocular disease. Cataract surgery is also an opportunity to correct and treat refractive errors such as near-sightedness (blurry vision at distance), far-sightedness (blurry vision at near and distance), and presbyopia (blurry vision at near associated with aging) as well as astigmatism.

The Washington Eye Institute offers the most modern and up-to-date technologies for refractive cataract surgery, including femto-second assisted laser cataract surgery, toric astigmatism correcting intraocular lenses, multifocal intraocular lenses, and the most recent leap-forward in cataract surgery, the light adjustable lens.

If you are experiencing vision changes or would like to discuss your options for seeing more clearly, please visit us at the Washington Eye Institute for a full exam and consultation.