Not only harm the lungs, smoking can cause blindness

According to experts' warnings, millions of Britons will suffer from vision loss, even blindness if they continue to smoke.

According to the BBC, the Royal British National Institute of Blindness (RNIB) has just released research results showing that smokers are twice as likely to lose sight as non-smokers.

Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eyes.(Artwork - Getty).

Notably, only 20% of UK Association of Ophthalmic Association (AOP) respondents who are aware of smoking can lead to blindness.

Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eyes. For example, heavy metals such as lead and copper in smoke are small enough to penetrate the lens, causing cataracts and reducing vision.

Smoking can also worsen diabetic eye problems by damaging blood vessels behind the eye (also known as the retina). The study also showed that older people who smoke cigarettes are three times more likely to suffer from macular degeneration.

In addition, smokers are more likely to experience sudden loss of vision due to a 16-fold increase in optic neuropathy compared with non-smokers.

In a survey of more than 2,000 adults, only 18% of them knew that smoking correctly could increase the risk of blindness or vision loss, while up to three-quarters (76%) ) know that smoking can cause cancer.

According to AOP, quitting smoking or limiting smoking is one of the best measures to protect eyesight. At the same time, we also need regular vision testing.

In the UK, about 17% of men and 13% of women (equivalent to 7.4 million) are smoking cigarettes. More than half of them expressed their desire to quit smoking. In 2017, about 5.5% of smokers in the UK have replaced smoking with the use of e-cigarettes for the most common reason to help quit smoking.

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