{"id":16467,"date":"2021-07-28T11:50:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T11:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=16467"},"modified":"2021-07-28T11:50:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T11:50:31","slug":"teens-smoking-and-blindness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/teens-smoking-and-blindness\/","title":{"rendered":"Teens, Smoking and Blindness"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>A staggering 95% of teens are unaware smoking can lead to blindness.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Most people are aware that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/does-smoking-affect-the-eyes\/\">smoking raises the risk<\/a> of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).<\/p>\n<p><b>However, most teens aren\u2019t afraid of these diseases. What they are most concerned about is their vision, and going blind<\/b>.<\/p>\n<h2><b>British Journal of Ophthalmology<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The British Journal of Ophthalmology published research where 260 clubbers aged 16 and 18, were questioned on the topic of smoking and its connection to vision.<\/p>\n<p><b>A whopping 9.5 out of 10 teens did not know that smoking can rob them of their vision later in life.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Survey participants were asked if they knew if there was a link between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/does-smoking-affect-the-eyes\/\">smoking and various diseases<\/a>, here are the findings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Lung cancer &#8211; 81% awareness<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Heart disease &#8211; 27% awareness<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Stroke &#8211; 15% awareness<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Blindness &#8211; 5% awareness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Results showed that teens were mostly aware of a connection between smoking and lung cancer, but practically none knew that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/does-smoking-affect-the-eyes\/\">blindness can be caused by smoking<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After being asked if they knew the link between smoking and the above, participants were asked to rank their fear of these diseases.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the teens were far more frightened of losing their vision than of any other smoking-related disease.<\/p>\n<p><em>Smoking increases the risk of many eye diseases.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>SEE RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/does-smoking-affect-the-eyes\/\">How Does Smoking Affect the Eyes?<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>If you are a smoker, it\u2019s important to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">contact an eye doctor near you<\/a> to make sure your eyes are healthy<\/b>.<\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>Smoking and cataracts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>According to the study published in JAMA (2000), smokers had twice the risk of developing cataracts as non-smokers.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Heavy smokers face a threefold increase in risk. The more cigarettes they smoked, the higher their risk of developing cataracts.<\/p>\n<p>Cataracts occur when the naturally clear lens of the eye becomes cloudy over time. Faded colors, blurred vision and increased sensitivity to glare are all symptoms of this age-related condition.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors believe that smoking causes cataracts by oxidizing the cells of the lens. There&#8217;s also evidence that smoking causes heavy metals like cadmium to build up in the lens.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Smoking and macular degeneration<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The center of the retina, which is responsible for clear central vision needed for everyday tasks like reading and driving, is affected by age-related macular degeneration (AMD).<\/p>\n<p>AMD is the major cause of permanent visual loss in those aged 65 and up.<\/p>\n<p><b>When compared to people who have never smoked, this study showed that smokers have a three-fold increased chance of acquiring AMD.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Female smokers over the age of 80 are 5.5 times more likely than non-smokers of the same age to get AMD.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, as smoking is the most preventable risk factor for AMD, quitting at any age, even later in life, can greatly lower your risk of acquiring the disease.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Smoking and uveitis<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye, or uvea) is a serious eye disease that can cause blindness.<\/p>\n<p>Uveitis damage critical eye structures, including the iris and retina, as well,s and can lead to complications like glaucoma, cataracts and retinal detachment.<\/p>\n<p>Uveitis is more common in smokers than in nonsmokers, and smoking appears to be associated with the development of uveitis.<\/p>\n<p><b>A study published by Ophthalmology (2015), smoking was linked to a 2.2-times greater risk of developing uveitis.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Smoking and diabetic retinopathy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes, damage the retina&#8217;s blood vessels, which can lead to vision loss.<\/p>\n<p>Diabetic retinopathy affects more than 5 million Americans aged 40 and up\u00a0 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that number will rise to almost 16 million by 2050.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to multiple other diabetes problems, there is a causal association between smoking and the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Protect your eyes!<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/does-smoking-affect-the-eyes\/\">If you smoke, your eye health is at risk<\/a> &#8211; it is highly recommended to seek professional advice on how to quit smoking.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>There are many different treatment programs that can provide you with the support you need to help you quit smoking.<\/p>\n<p><em>It\u2019s never too late to quit smoking<\/em><b><em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve broken the habit, your body will start to recover, and you&#8217;ll feel a lot better knowing you&#8217;re doing everything you can to keep your body healthy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/\">Guide to Eye Health<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>If you smoke, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you<\/a>, who can check your eye health<\/b>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A staggering 95% of teens are unaware smoking can lead to blindness. Most people are aware that smoking raises the risk of developing cancer, heart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16468,"parent":12328,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16467","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Teens, Smoking and Blindness - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/teens-smoking-and-blindness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teens, Smoking and Blindness - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A staggering 95% of teens are unaware smoking can lead to blindness. 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