Smoking increases the risk that you will develop cataracts. Scientists aren't sure whether smoking promotes cataracts from the inside or the outside of the smoker's body.
just the facts
More than a million operations to treat cataracts are performed every year in the U.S. (1)
Compared with people who have never smoked, those who smoke a pack or more of cigarettes a day are at least twice as likely to get cataracts.
Sources 1. Christen WG, Manson JE, Seddon JM, Glynn RJ, Buring JE, Rosner B, Hennekens CH. A prospective study of cigarette smoking and risk of cataract in men. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992;268:989-993.
definition
When a person has a cataract, parts of the lens of the eye become cloudy. If the cataract is small, this may not matter much. But cataracts can grow larger over time, making a person's vision dull and blurry. Stronger eyeglasses and brighter lights may help for a while, but eventually, many people with cataracts need to have an operation to correct the problem. In this operation, the lens is removed and replaced by an artificial one. Cataracts occur primarily in older people, and they are very common. More than a million operations to treat cataracts are performed every year in the U.S. (1)
explanation
Compared with people who have never smoked, those who smoke a pack or more of cigarettes a day are at least twice as likely to get cataracts. The more you smoke and the longer you smoke, the greater your chances of having cataracts.
Scientists aren't sure whether smoking promotes cataracts from the inside or the outside of the smoker's body. It's possible that the tobacco smoke that swirls around the smoker's face may damage the lens from the outside, but it's also possible that harmful substances from tobacco smoke may travel through the bloodstream to the eye, damaging the lens from the inside.
