Smoking 'damages eyes as well as lungs'

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48824720

July 2, 2019

Despite the clear connection, only one in five people recognise that smoking can lead to blindness, a poll for the Association of Optometrists (AOP) finds.

Smokers are twice as likely to lose their sight compared with non-smokers, says the RNIB.

That is because tobacco smoke can cause and worsen a number of eye conditions.

Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eyes.

For example, heavy metals, such as lead and copper, can collect in the lens - the transparent bit that sits behind the pupil and brings rays of light into focus - and lead to cataracts, where the lens becomes cloudy.

Smoking can make diabetes-related sight problems worse by damaging blood vessels at the back of the eye (the retina).

Smokers are around three times more likely to get age-related macular degeneration - a condition affecting a person's central vision, meaning that they lose their ability to see fine details.

And they are 16 times more likely than non-smokers to develop sudden loss of vision caused by optic neuropathy, where the blood supply to the eye becomes blocked.

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