Millions of people in the UK endanger their health by continuing to smoke, warned specialists. Despite the obvious relationship, only one in five people are aware that smoking can cause blindness, a poll for the Association of Optometrists (AOP) found.
Smokers are twice as likely to lose vision as non-smokers, RNIB said. That’s because tobacco smoke can cause and worsen a number of eye conditions.
How smoking can harm your eyes
Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eye.
For example, heavy metals, such as lead and copper, can accumulate in lenses – transparent bits behind the pupils and bring light rays into focus – and cause cataracts, where the lens becomes cloudy.
Smoking can aggravate vision problems related to diabetes by damaging blood vessels in the back of the eye (retina).
Smokers are about three times more likely to experience age-related macular degeneration – a condition that affects a person’s central vision, which means that they lose the ability to see good details.
And they are 16 times more likely than nonsmokers to experience sudden vision loss caused by optic neuropathy, in which blood supply to the eyes becomes blocked.
In a poll involving 2,006 adults, 18% correctly said that smoking increases the risk of blindness or vision loss, while three-quarters (76%) know that smoking is linked to cancer.
AOP says quitting or avoiding smoking is one of the best steps you can take to protect your eyesight, along with regular vision checks.
Aishah Fazlanie, Optometrist and Clinical Adviser and Regulator for AOP, said: “People tend to know about the relationship between smoking and cancer, but many people are not aware of the effects smoking can have on the eyes.
“Smoking increases the risk of conditions that threaten vision, such as age-related macular degeneration, which is an important reason why smokers should consider quitting.”
Fewer smokers
In Britain, 17% of men and 13% of women – around 7.4 million people – are smokers. More than half (61%) of them said they wanted to quit.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the current proportion of smokers has declined, with the largest decline since 2011 occurring between the ages of 18 and 24 years.
In 2017, around 2.8 million people – 5.5% of the UK – used e-cigarettes, and the most common reason given for vaping was to help stop smoking.
