While most people who smoke combustible cigarettes know many of the health risks involved with long-term tobacco inhalation, many disregard the fatal impacts that smoking has on an organ like your eyes. While heart disease and cancer are often discussed, sight-threatening vision and eye problems are not well-known among smokers. Listed below are the benefits of quitting smoking that help your eye health.
Cataracts and smoking
A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. As the leading cause of blindness in the world, having cataracts is like seeing through a fogged-up window. Those who smoke combustible cigarettes significantly increase their risk of developing a cataract compared to those who don’t smoke. As one of the many benefits of quitting smoking, you can lower your chance of forming cataracts by waving goodbye to tobacco products or reducing your nicotine intake by using an e-cig.
Macular degeneration and smoking
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a condition that affects the center of the retina, which is the part of the eye that’s responsible for sharp, centrally focused vision that’s needed for such tasks as reading and driving. When people smoke heavily, they’re at an increased risk for developing AMD (about 5.5 times more likely), which causes blind spots that severely affect central vision. However, since smoking is a controllable risk factor, quitting smoking at any age can significantly reduce that risk.
Uveitis and smoking
A serious eye disease, uveitis, is caused by inflammation of the eye’s middle layer, the uvea. Harming vital structures of the eye, including the iris and retina, uveitis can cause complete blindness and other complications such as cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal detachment. Since smokers are more likely to develop this eye-threatening condition, it’s worth giving up the habit to reduce the risk and help your eye health.
Are you ready to quit?
It’s never too late to reap the benefits of quitting smoking by enjoying a healthier lifestyle. Quitting at any age significantly reduces your risk of developing many sight-threatening eye conditions, and since nicotine withdrawal makes the quitting process irritable and overwhelming, we recommend quitting combustible cigarettes through the help of e-cigs. Since e-cigs allow ex-smokers to wean off tobacco and gradually reduce their nicotine intake over time, the success rate in quitting for good is much higher and more sustainable than trying to quit cold turkey.
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