Smoking and Eye Health

Smoking could be the largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the World. Smoking can harm almost every organ in your body and can cause serious health problems that include cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Although eye problems related to smoking are less well-known, the most direct effect known of smoking is dry eye with scratchy feeling, burning, stinging, and eye redness. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, smoking puts the patient at an increased risk for getting cataracts, optic nerve problems, Uveitis, increasing eye conditions in Graves’ disease, worsening the risk of diabetic retinopathy for diabetes patients, and increased risk of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

AMD is a complex multifactorial disease, it has an uncertain etiology associated with genetic and environmental factors. There are claims and studies that show smokers are three times more at risk of developing AMD than non-smokers. Female smokers over the age of 80 are five times more at risk of developing AMD than non-smokers of the same age. Cigarette smoking turned out to be the most significant environmental influence in an increased risk of AMD. The risk associated with cigarette smoking affects both the development and the progression of AMD with a mediating effect of direct oxidation, depletion of antioxidant protection, immune system activation, and atherosclerotic vascular changes.

Even though smocking is an associated risk factor for developing AMD, it is preventable and controllable. Quitting smoking at any age, even at a late age, can reduce the risk of developing AMD in a significant way. However, one thing that eye care professionals know, retinal damages caused by AMD and vision loss are irreversible. Moreover, patients are not always alert of the significant risk played by smoking in AMD that can lead to permanent blindness. Even though practices spend a lot of effort in spreading awareness of the risk of AMD and early detection of glaucoma, the emphasis on the effect of smoking and its direct effect on blindness is frequently neglected.