“To maintain the best eye health and vision, avoid smoking if you
haven’t started and stop if you are currently a smoker. This may not be as easy
as it sounds as it is often difficult for patients to see the long term
increased eye health risks of smoking-especially when they are younger,” stated
Leslie Doctor, M.D. a Fairfield County eye doctor with offices in Norwalk,
Westport & Wilton, CT. “Believe it
or not, avoiding smoking, or quitting, is one of the best investments
you can make in your long-term eye health. Smoking-even in your teens or
twenties when your senior years seem far away- increases your future risks for cataract
and age-related
macular degeneration (AMD). And the more a person smokes, the higher the
risks. The good news is that after people quit smoking, their risks for these
eye diseases become almost as low as for people who never smoked,” said Dr.
Leslie Doctor.
Smoking also raises the risks for
cardiovascular diseases that indirectly influence your eyes’ health. And
tobacco smoke, including second-hand smoke, is an irritant that worsens dry eye,
a very uncomfortable eye condition that is most common in women after
menopause. Smoking increases the risk of serious vision loss in people with
other eye diseases. And when women smoke during pregnancy they are more likely
to give birth prematurely, putting their babies at higher risk for a
potentially blinding disease called retinopathy
of prematurity as well as other health problems.
If you or someone you
know want to quit smoking and would like help the American Cancer Society has a
resource at www.cancer.org. If you would like to learn
more about smoking and eye health problems please feel free to call Doctor
& Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor
& Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to
schedule an appointment.
Doctor & Associates is a
leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North,
Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148
East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.
