A Rutgers University study found that smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day (usually a pack of 20) can damage smokers' vision and ability to distinguish colors. The study, published in the journal Psychiatric Research, suggests that ingesting neurotoxic chemicals, such as those in cigarettes, may lead to loss of color vision.
The study recruited more than 130 adult healthy volunteers, aged 25-45 years old, of whom 63 were addicts, smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day, and more than 70 were basically non-smokers. All subjects had normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
The researchers tested volunteers' ability to distinguish contrast and color, and the results showed that compared with non-smokers, excessive smokers had significantly lower ability to distinguish contrast and color, and they had more or less symptoms of color blindness or color weakness. , its red-green and blue-yellow vision defects. Non-smokers' vision is almost double that of smokers, and their ability to recognize geometric shapes is 2-3 times that of smokers.
Dr. Steven Silverstein, one of the researchers, said: "Previous research has shown that long-term smoking doubles the risk of age-related macular degeneration, a factor that contributes to yellowing and inflammation of the lens. The findings suggest that excessive smoking or chronic exposure to chemicals in cigarettes can affect visual discrimination, supporting the theory that smokers have an overall deficit in visual processing."
Dr. Silverstein said that nicotine and chemicals found in cigarettes Substances may damage blood vessels and nerve cells in the eye. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 34.3 million adults in the United States currently smoke, more than 16 million suffer from smoking-related diseases, and 12 million of them are visually impaired.
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