Smoking damages your eyes by introducing toxic chemicals and reducing blood flow, which increases your risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic eye disease.

It also worsens dry eye symptoms and can impair vision quality by contributing to blood vessel damage and oxidative stress in the eye tissues.

How Does Smoking Affect Your Eyes?

Smoking can affect the crucial parts of your eyes, including:

• Retina: The delicate, light-sensitive tissue that lines the inside of the eye.
• Lens: The clear part of the eye that allows light to pass to the retina and allows the eye to focus on objects at varying distances.
• Macula: The most sensitive part of the retina, and is the part of the eye that supplies sharp vision.

Smoking causes changes in the eyes that can lead to vision loss. If you smoke:

• You are twice as likely to develop AMD compared to people who don’t smoke.
• You are two or three times more likely to develop cataracts compared with people who don’t smoke.

What Are the Symptoms of Eye Diseases Related to Smoking?

Smoking cigarettes can cause two serious eye diseases: cataracts and AMD. Symptoms of these eye diseases related to smoking include:

Cataracts:

• Cloudy or blurry vision
• Colours that seem faded
• Sensitivity to light
• Trouble seeing at night
• Double vision

For more information on cataracts, see our full cataracts guide here.

AMD:

• Loss of the central vision you need to see details straight ahead
• Blurry or wavy areas in your vision
• Having a hard time recognising faces
• Needing more light to read or do other tasks in front of you

For more information on AMD, see our full AMD guide here.

It’s important to note that in the early stages of both of these diseases, you may experience no symptoms at all. It’s important to get eye exams on a regular basis to increase the chances of catching and treating these conditions as early as possible. For a comprehensive eye exam, book in with D.I. Blow Optician here.

What About Vaping?

“Vaping has risks that are different from smoking,” said J Kevin McKinney, MD. “Vaping solutions often have much higher nicotine levels than cigarettes. While they do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, they do have other chemicals with known and unknown negative effects. We are still learning the type and magnitude of the risks of e-cigarettes”.

Additional Eye Problems Associated with Smoking

Dry Eye

This is when your eyes do not have enough, or the right kind, of tears. Smoking with dry eye will make your eyes more likely to feel scratchy, sting, burn, or be red.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Smokers who also have diabetes risk getting diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when blood vessels in the eye are damaged. It causes blurry or distorted vision and possibly blindness. Treatment includes medication, laser, or surgery.

For more information, read our complete guide on diabetic retinopathy here.

Optic Nerve Problems

People who smoke risk having optic nerve problems. The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain. Damage to this nerve can lead to blindness. Smoking can increase risk factors, which can lead to glaucoma, a disease that affects the optic nerve.

Uveitis

Smoking can lead to a disease that affects part of the eye called the uvea. This is the middle layer of the eye wall. Uveitis is when this layer becomes irritated. This disease causes a red eye, pain, and vision problems.

Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), also known as Graves’ Eye Disease

This is a disease of the body’s thyroid gland. One of the symptoms of thyroid eye disease, or TED, is bulging eyes. Smokers with TED risk worsening their eye condition with smoking. They can also lose vision.

Smoking and Pregnancy

If you smoke whilst pregnant, your baby is 5x more likely to get bacterial meningitis as a child. This is when tissues around the brain swell. Meningitis can cause eye infections, amongst other vision problems.

Smoking during pregnancy can also increase your risk of giving birth too early. Premature birth can lead to a serious eye problem called retinopathy or prematurity. The baby may have permanent vision loss or blindness.

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Protecting your eyesight means protecting your future. Smoking greatly increases the risk of conditions like AMD, cataracts, and optic nerve damage, often with no early warning signs. Alongside quitting smoking, a good diet plays a real protective role too — our guide to the link between diet and eye health covers the foods that help most. The best step you can take to safeguard your vision is to quit smoking and attend regular eye exams. At D.I. Blow Opticians, we’re here to help you maintain healthy eyes for life. Book your comprehensive eye test with us today.

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What Is A Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. According to the NHS, most cataracts are related to ageing, and they’re very common in older people.

A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot spread from one eye to the other.

There are many different types of cataracts. Not all cataracts cause symptoms. If a cataract causes no symptoms, it can usually be left alone. If symptoms, such as blurred vision, occur then cataracts can be treated very successfully with surgery.

The Lens

The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. Once it reaches the retina, light is changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. The lens must be clear for the retina to receive a sharp image. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image you see will be blurred.

What Causes Cataracts?

The lens lies behind the iris and pupil. It works much like a camera lens. It focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye where an image is recorded. The lens also adjusts the eye’s focus, letting us see things clearly both up close and far away. The lens is made of mostly water and protein. The protein is arranged in a precise way that keeps the lens clear and lets light pass through it.

But as we age, some of the protein may clump together and start to cloud a small area of the lens. This is a cataract. Over time, the cataract may grow larger and cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see.

As you become older, you might also find that the lens begins to acquire a brownish shade. If you have advanced lens discolouration, you may not be able to identify blues and purples.

Cataracts are associated with the sun and so are far more common in areas of the world such as India and Africa. Other causes include injury, diabetes, smoking, certain drugs, and some ocular diseases.

Whilst cataracts are commonest in older people, they can occur at any age. Some children are born with cataracts, this is known as congenital cataracts.

Cataract Symptoms

The most common cataract symptoms are:
• Cloudy or blurry vision
• Colours seeming to fade
• Glare, headlights, lamps, or sunlight might appear too bright. A halo may appear around lights
• Poor night vision
• Double vision or multiple images in one eye.
• Frequent prescription changes

Because cataracts normally develop very slowly over many years, most people don’t notice the gradual deterioration in their vision until it starts to interfere with their daily activity, or it is spotted by their optometrist.

Different Types of Cataracts

• Secondary Cataract: Cataracts can form after surgery for other eye problems, such as glaucoma. Cataracts also can develop in people who have other health problems, such as diabetes. Cataracts are sometimes linked to steroid use.
• Traumatic Cataract: Cataracts can develop after an eye injury, sometimes years later.
• Congenital Cataract: Some babies are born with cataracts or develop them in childhood, often in both eyes. These cataracts may be so small that they do not affect vision. If they do, the lenses may need to be removed.
• Radiation Cataract: Cataracts can develop after exposure to some types of radiation.

How Is A Cataract Detected?

Cataracts are detected through a comprehensive eye exam that includes:
• Visual Acuity Test: This eye chart test measures how well you can see at various distances.
• Dilated Eye Exam: Drops are placed in your eyes to widen, or dilate, the pupils. Your optometrist uses a special magnifying lens to examine your retina and optic nerve for signs of damage and other eye problems.
• Tonometry: An instrument measures the pressure inside the eye.

How Are Cataracts Treated?

The most effective treatment for cataracts is an operation to remove the cataract and replace the cloudy lens with a clear artificial implant.

The lens of each eye should be clear in order for your eyes to work properly. When glasses no longer improve your vision, the only way to restore your vision is by having the cataract removed by surgery.

The Cataract Operation

Cataract surgery is one of the most common and quickest surgeries performed today. Modern cataract surgery, called phacoemulsification, is usually performed under local anaesthetic as a day case procedure. During the surgery, a tiny incision is made into the eye and the lens removed with an ultra-sound probe. The capsule of the lens is left behind and this is used to house the new lens implant. The whole procedure takes between 15 and 20 minutes and the visual recovery is very quick with most patients noticing improved vision within a matter of days.

Lens Implant Types

Each patient and each eye are different. Measurements are taken prior to surgery, called biometry, to establish the correct lens power for the individual eye. Lens implants also come in different types. The two major categories of lens implants are:

Monofocal Lenses

The vast majority of patients have this lens type put in. These provide good distance vision, but glasses are required for close work.

Multifocal Lenses

These lenses offer a high probability of achieving glasses independence, providing patients the ability to see far as well as to read without glasses.

However, patients can experience a reduction in contrast sensitivity, especially in dim lighting, as well as halos and glare around lights at night.

The pre-operative preparations for patients interested in multifocal lens implants are more involved than when monofocal lenses are being used, a wider range of issues need to be discussed, and the post-operative management is more intensive. These are the major reasons that these lenses are not offered on the NHS.

Current Cataract Research

The National Eye Institute is conducting and supporting a number of studies focusing on factors associated with the development of age-related cataracts.

These studies include:

• The effect of sunlight exposure, which may be associated with an increased risk of cataracts.
• Vitamin supplements, which have shown varying results in delaying the progressions of cataracts.
• Genetic studies, which show promise for better understanding cataract development.

For further support and information about living with cataracts, the RNIB is a good additional resource.

Cataracts aren’t the only age-related eye condition worth knowing about — our guide to Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) covers another common one, including symptoms and treatment options.

For more on age-related eye conditions and how to manage them, see our full eye health guide. If you have any concerns about your vision, book an eye exam with your local D.I. Blow Opticians.

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At first, diabetic retinopathy might cause no apparent symptoms, but left untreated, it can lead to blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy can develop in anyone who has type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The longer you have diabetes and the less controlled your blood sugar is, the more likely you are to develop it.

What are the Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy?

Whilst early stages of diabetic retinopathy might cause no apparent symptoms, as the condition progresses you might develop:

• Spots or dark strings floating in your vision
• Blurred vision
• Fluctuating vision
• Dark or empty areas in your vision
• Vision loss

What Causes Diabetic Retinopathy?

Over time, too much sugar in your blood can lead to the blockage of the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina, cutting off its blood supply. As a result, the eye attempts to grow new blood vessels. These new blood vessels don’t develop properly and can leak easily.

There Are Two Types Of Diabetic Retinopathy:

Early Diabetic Retinopathy:

In this more common form, called nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), new blood vessels aren’t growing (proliferating).

When you have NPDR, the walls of the blood vessels in your retina weaken. Tiny bulges protrude from the walls of the smaller vessels, sometimes leaking fluid and blood into the retina. Larger retinal vessels can also begin to dilate and become irregular in diameter.

Sometimes retinal blood vessel damage can lead to a buildup of fluid (edema) in the centre (macula) of the retina. If macula edema decreases vision, treatment is required to prevent permanent vision loss.

Advanced Diabetic Retinopathy:

Diabetic retinopathy can progress to this more severe type known as proliferative diabetic retinopathy. With this type, damaged blood vessels close off causing the growth of new, abnormal blood vessels in the retina. These new blood vessels are fragile and can leak into the clear, jellylike substance that fills the centre of your eye (vitreous).

Eventually, if left untreated, scar tissue from the growth of new blood vessels can cause the retina to detach from the back of your eye. If the new blood vessels interfere with the normal flow of fluid out of the eye, pressure can build in the eyeball. This build-up can then damage the nerve that carries images from your eye to your brain (optic nerve) resulting in glaucoma.

What are the Risk Factors of Diabetic Retinopathy

Anyone who has diabetes can develop diabetic retinopathy. The risk of developing the eye condition can increase as a result of:

• Having diabetes for a long time
• Poor control of your blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Pregnancy
• Smoking
• Being Black, Hispanic, or Native American

How to Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy

If you have diabetes, reduce your risk of getting diabetic retinopathy by doing the following:

• Manage your diabetes and monitor your blood sugar levels
• Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control
• Quit, or never start, smoking
• Pay attention to any changes in your vision

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Diabetic retinopathy isn’t the only retina-related condition worth being aware of — our guide to Age-Related Macular Degeneration covers another common one affecting central vision as we age.

For more on how ageing and other conditions can affect your eyes, see our full eye health guide.

If you have a concern about your eyes, book in with your local D. I. Blow Opticians today for a comprehensive eye exam and let’s put your mind at ease.

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