Whether you’re a smoker or not, then you know all about the health dangers smoking presents. The reasons are a lot. Add eyesight issues to that list. To be precise and accurate: smoking is an addiction which makes it more likely for a person to come up with eye disorders such as cataract and macular degeneration.
Here are 5 reasons why quitting smoking must be on your new year resolution:
Gradual Development of Blindness
Smokers are four times more likely to become blind due to esophageal degeneration compared to people who have never smoked. But quitting can reduce that risk study shows.
Age-related macular degeneration is a more severe and progressive condition which results in loss of central vision. It tends to use the retina which allows for’ straight-ahead’ actions such as reading, sewing, and driving a vehicle’s section. While of the risk factors aren’t fully understood, studies have pointed to smoking as modifiable cause and a single major.
Quick Fact: Smokers are up to four times more likely to go blind in old age.
Smoking And Uveitis
Uveitis (inflammation of the eye’s middle layer, or uvea) is a serious eye disease that could result in complete vision loss.
It harms crucial structures of the eye, including the iris and retina, and can cause complications such as cataract, glaucoma and retinal detachment.
Evidence shows smokers are more prone than non-smokers to own uveitis, and smoking seems connected to the evolution of uveitis. One study found smoking was correlated with a 2.2 times higher than normal risk of having the condition.
The Curious case of Dry Eyes
Dry eye syndrome clarifies insufficient tears on the eye surface, and that are required to keep the eye lubricated and healthy. Sufferers of the sterile eye can experience eye discomfort, itchiness, a”foreign body” sensation as well as watery eyes.
Tobacco smoke is a known eye irritant and worsens dry eye even one of the second-hand smokers — particularly for contact lens wearers. Individuals who smoke are two times as likely to have eyes.
An Increased Risk of Impotence
Men concerned about their performance in the sack should stop lighting up cigarettes, suggests a study that linked smoking into some man’s ability to obtain an erection. The study of nearly 5,000 Chinese men revealed that men who smoked over a pack per day were 60 percent more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, compared with men who have never smoked cigarettes.
Total, 15 percent of past and present physicians had experienced erectile dysfunction, more commonly known as impotence. Among men who had never smoked, 12% had erection difficulties, according to the research, presented in the American Heart Association’s annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in Miami.
Smoking And Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy damages the blood vessels of the retina and may lead to vision loss. Over 5 million Americans age 40 and older have diabetic retinopathy because of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Smoking may as much as double the chance of developing diabetes. There is a causal relationship between smoking and the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy, as well as numerous other diabetes complications.
