Cataracts are a progressive condition where your natural lens becomes cloudy and eventually opaque. Various conditions may cause cataracts, but the most common cause is simply the aging process: the lens slowly loses its water content and so increases in density. Reports have indicated that by the age of 60 almost half the population develops the early stages of cataract.

Almost everyone over the age of 70 will show some degree of cataract formation. Cataracts develop slowly in most people, and the gradual deterioration in your vision becomes more noticeable over time. You may notice:

• cloudy, fuzzy, or filmy vision
  
• changes in the way you see colors
  
• headlights seem too bright when driving at night
  
• glare from lamps or the sun
  
• double vision