Smokers listen up! Lung cancer isn’t the only danger, you’re ‘FOUR TIMES more likely to go blind’
On No Smoking Day experts warn lighting up can damage your eye sight, with smokers as likely to go blind as suffer lung cancer
LUNG cancer isn't the only danger smokers face, they are four times more likely to go blind, experts warn.
On No Smoking Day, a leading charity warns the link between sight loss and lighting up is as strong as the risk of cancer.
As well as deadly cancer, and heart disease, the chemicals in fags trigger biological changes in the eye, that can trigger nasty diseases.
These include age-related macular degeneration - the leading cause of blindness - cataracts and thyroid eye disease.
David Cartwright, chairman of Eye Health UK, said: "Cigarettes cause blindness yet Britain's seven million smokers are largely unaware of the dangers.
"Fewer than 10 per cent realise smoking can affect their eye health.
"This compares to 92 per cent associating smoking with lung cancer and 87 per cent identifying a link between smoking and the risk of heart disease."
Half of all sight loss in the UK could be avoided, Mr Cartwright revealed.
MOST READ IN HEALTH
"And smoking is the single biggest modifiable factor," he added.
"Saying 'eye quit' and joining the NHS smoke free programme will improve your eye health and significantly reduce your risk of losing your sight.
"After a decade or so being smoke free your risk of sight loss reduces to that of a non-smoker."
Research published in the British Medical Journal reveals one in five cases of age-related macular degeneration can be linked to tobacco consumption - that's 120,000 cases across the UK.
And Mr Cartwright warns even social smokers are at risk.
Any amount of smoking can affect eye health, he warned.
Heavy smokers - who puff their way through 20-a-day - are also at risk of colour vision defects, as nicotine poisoning makes it difficult to clearly distinguish colours with a red or green hue.
Mr Cartwright said regular eye tests is vital for everyone, but more so for smokers.
"Early detection of conditions such as AMD is essential to prevent avoidable sight loss," he said."
A study recently warned smoking will kill eight million people every year across the world, by 2030.
While tobacco is currently to blame for around six million deaths, the World Health Organisation said that death toll will rise in the next 13 years.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368