Did you know that smoking can also destroy your "window to the soul"?

We often say that smoking is harmful to health, but the scope of health is very broad. Many people only see the unbridled "puffing of smoke" in front of them. However, what is in front of you is the harm that really affects your "window to the soul". How can you turn a blind eye to it? At least 2.2 billion people worldwide have impaired near or far vision, and at least 1 billion people have visual impairment that could be prevented or have not yet been effectively treated. We want to see the colorful world with our own eyes, but we don't want our eyes to be exposed to white, yellow and blue (cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma). Smoking can also induce eye diseases, leading to visual impairment and blindness. Do you know these invisible dangers?

Cataract is a visual impairment disease caused by the opacity of the lens. It is also the main cause of vision loss in the elderly. It is mostly caused by congenital factors, aging, trauma, metabolic abnormalities, etc. Tobacco contains harmful substances such as nicotine, which promotes the secretion of adrenaline, causes blood vessels to contract, and aggravates the condition; nicotine causes the pupil to become larger and contract, aggravating the decrease in vision; tobacco smoke enters the eyes and aggravates local inflammation, such as keratitis and conjunctivitis; the most terrible thing is that long-term smoking can also lead to ocular vascular lesions, and the nutrition and oxygen supply to the eyes cannot keep up, which is tantamount to adding insult to injury.

The pathological mechanism of macular degeneration is mainly the aging changes in the structure of the macula. Among people over 50 years old, the incidence of macular degeneration is as high as 15.5%. And age-related macular degeneration is the most likely irreversible blinding eye disease. Studies have shown that 29% of age-related macular degeneration is caused by smoking. People who smoke more than a pack a day are 3-4 times more likely to suffer from age-related macular degeneration than non-smokers! In life, our central vision dominates functions such as reading, recognition, and even driving. Macular degeneration is a chronic eye disease that causes a sharp decline in the central vision of the human body.

Glaucoma includes optic disc atrophy and depression, visual field loss and decreased vision. Risk factors for the disease include pathologically increased intraocular pressure and insufficient blood supply to the optic nerve. It is a progressive optic neuropathy that leads to gradual loss of vision and is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. Studies have found that smoking may increase the risk of glaucoma compared to people who have never smoked. The principle is that nicotine and other ingredients in tobacco can excite N-type acetylcholine receptors, causing constriction of blood vessels supplying the optic nerve, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the optic nerve, further reducing tolerance to high intraocular pressure, making the optic nerve of glaucoma patients more susceptible to atrophy and leading to visual field loss.

In addition to closing your eyes and resting, or doing eye exercises, sometimes you may also want to let your eyes "move". Simply rotating your eyeballs is enough to relax the eye muscles and relieve eye fatigue. Looking at distant buildings and trees can also effectively relax the eyes, allowing the eye muscles to relax and contract alternately from time to time, improving blood perfusion in the eyes and promoting eye metabolism. Balanced nutrients such as high-quality protein, vitamin A, vitamin B1, calcium, and selenium are beneficial to eye health. When using electronic products, you must first pay attention to the time and secondly pay attention to the environment. Do not stare at the electronic screen for a long time in a dim or glaring environment.

Only by paying attention to the above eye health rules can we hope to use our "windows of the soul" longer and better, and stay away from eye hazards (cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma).

Author: Shanghai Putuo District Central Hospital

Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

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