According to the CDC, over 34 million adults in the United States are active smokers. Unfortunately, smoking can severely impact every part of a person's health, including eye health. At Dunedin Eye Care, our optometrist, Dr. Stephanie Coates, and the rest of our team are dedicated to providing the advice and care our patients need to maintain their vision and eye health for years to come. If you're in the Dunedin, FL area, stop by to see how we can help you stay on top of your eye care, especially if you are an active smoker.
Smoking and Overall Health
The connection between smoking and overall health is well-known. Smoking can not only lead to short-term effects, including anxiety, trouble breathing, and increased heart rate, but also long-term health effects. Some of the negative long-term health effects of smoking include:
- Increased risk of Diabetes
- Increased blood pressure
- COPD
- Bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Risk of cancers such as lung cancer
Smoking and Eye Health
All of the long-term conditions caused by smoking can also have a negative impact on your eye health. Diabetes can increase your chances of Diabetic retinopathy. This causes damage to the blood vessels of the eyes, leading to symptoms including:
- Floaters
- Vision loss
- Partial vision loss
- Blurred vision
- Distorted vision
Smoking can also increase your blood pressure, leading to retinopathy. There are many other diseases that can be caused due to smoking, including:
- Dry eye syndrome, which causes eye redness and irritation
- Retinal detachment
- Glaucoma, which damages the eye's optic nerve and leads to permanent vision loss over time
- Cataracts, which is the development of a cloudy film over the eye
How We Can Help
Our optometrist will first recommend you find ways to quit smoking. There are many smoking cessation practices to help you quit, including nicotine patches, therapy, and behavioral changes.
We can also manage existing eye diseases and provide treatment if we detect eye health issues caused by smoking. Preventive care is the best way to ensure any eye disorders don't progress and lead to serious vision loss.
Improve Your Eye Health at Our Dunedin Clinic
At Dunedin Eye Care, Dr. Coates and our team make it our mission to help improve patients' eye health. If you're an active smoker, don't hesitate to book an appointment with us at our Dunedin, FL clinic today. Call us at (727) 733-0443 to learn more about how we can help you and your family.
