Visual health and tobacco use
Taken from literature provided and made available by the Veterans Administration for all of us Veterans.
How does smoking affect my eyes?
- Research shows that smoking can increase your chance of damaging your vision. That’s because chemicals in tobacco smoke can decrease blood circulation and oxygen flow causing eye problems. Tobacco smoke also causes eyes become dry and irritated.
What kind of vision problems can smoking cause?
Macular degeneration disease/age related macular degeneration (AMD), for which there is no cure, damages your retina, which in turn causes problems reading and in recognizing people’s faces. It mostly affects older adults and is a leading cause of blindness.
Cataracts: Which cause the eye lens to become cloudy and your vision to blur. Smokers with diabetes are at higher risk for retinopathy, a condition that can cause blindness.
Dry eye syndrome: which can cause blurry vision, eye stinging, and contact lens discomfort to you and those around you when you smoke.
Astigmatism: unclear vision, and children whose mothers smoked while they were pregnant
How will my visual health benefit if I quit smoking?
Quitting smoking may reduce your risk of getting AMD or the rate of its progression if you have it. Getting cataracts. Developing diabetes and in turn, retinopathy.
I want to quit using tobacco. How do I get started?
Talk with your VA healthcare team about help with quitting tobacco. Your team can help you in several different ways, which might include:
- Medications and tips for quitting, such as setting a date, seeking support, and removing all smoking-related things from your home.
- Meeting with an expert on the team, such as a health behavior coordinator, for support and quitting.
- Joining a class with other veterans who are also quitting, led by the hospital’s expert in smoking cessation.
- Make use of the QuitLine, the SmokefreeVet text messaging system or the Stay Quit Coach mobile app developed for veterans.
- Tobacco Cessation Quit Line for veterans at this phone number: 1 855 784 8838.
- The counselors are available Monday through Friday from 0900 to 2100.
- Smokefree VET is a mobile text message smoking cessation service. Text the word VET to 47848 from your mobile phone or visit www.Smokefree.gov/VET
- Stay Quit Coach: a free mobile app to support quitting smoking and staying quit
For the most current information and other resources:
- VHA National Center For Health Promotion And Disease Prevention:
- VHA Tobacco And Health: Policy And Programs, Clinical Public Health smoking cessation resources: www.public-health.VA.gov/smoking
- Veterans Health Library: www.veteranshealthlibrary.org
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