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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day can destroy vision and directly affect color recognition and visual processing, warned a recent US study.
The study was conducted by researchers from Rutgers University and published in the latest issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.3 million people in the United States currently smoke cigarettes and more than 16 million live with a smoking-related illness, most of whom suffer from cardiovascular disease.
To detect the relationship between smoking and vision health, the team observed 71 healthy people who smoked less than 15 cigarettes a day.
They compared the accuracy of their vision to 63 people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day, to a diagnosis of tobacco dependence and reported no attempt to quit smoking.
Participants in both groups were between 25 and 45 years of age and were subjected to visual intensity measurement through visual acuity diagrams.
The researchers measured how participants distinguished image and contrast levels when sitting 60 cm away from a screen, while researchers observed both eyes simultaneously.
Researchers found significant changes in smokers' green, blue and yellow colors, suggesting that the consumption of neurotoxic chemicals, such as those found in cigarettes, could result in a complete loss of color vision.
They also found that smokers who smoke heavily have a low ability to distinguish contrasts and colors from nonsmokers.
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