7 Risks to Your Eye Health and Vision if You Smoke

Did you ever wonder why your Ophthalmologist asks you if you smoke?

Smoking not only affects your overall physical condition, but it also increases your risk for developing many eye disorders and diseases.

Top Risks to Your Eyes As a Smoker

Here are seven risks to your eye health and vision, and seven reasons you should quit smoking (or never start).

1. At the very least, smoking can cause irritation, dry eye, and allergic eye conditions.
2. People who smoke have four times the risk of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration, a serious cause of blindness.
3. Smoking is linked to the development of cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s lens.
4. Those who have thyroid disease and smoke are more likely to develop thyroid eye diseases, such as Graves Disease — which causes the eyeballs to bulge or protrude from their sockets.
5. Many people know that smoking leads to cardiovascular problems. This can cause artery and vein occlusion (eye strokes) which ultimately damage the optic nerve and cause vision loss or blindness.
6. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to give birth prematurely. Premature babies are at high risk for all kinds of health problems, including Retinopathy of Prematurity, which is a potentially blinding condition.
7. Unfortunately, smoking can also result in partial loss of vision or even total blindness.

Good News to Those Who Quit Smoking

There is good news, however…

After people quit smoking, the risk of developing many of these serious disorders becomes almost as low as for people who never smoked. If the health and wellness of your eyes isn’t a good enough reason to quit smoking, here are some other reasons you should consider quitting.