If you smoke, quitting is the best thing you can do for your health. That includes your eye health. Vision already lost from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can’t be reversed by quitting or other lifestyle changes alone. But quitting may help slow down the progression of AMD and other conditions that can lead to blindness.

With AMD, multiple risk factors contribute to vision loss. Quitting smoking certainly helps, but it may not be the only step you need to take. Here’s some information on the relationship between smoking and eye health, along with practical tips to quit for good.

How Smoking Affects the Eyes

Smoking can have many harmful effects on the eyes, both direct and indirect. First, smoking robs the body of precious antioxidants. Antioxidants are protective substances. They help shield your eyes and other organs against “free radicals” or damage caused by sunlight, pollution, and aging. When you smoke, your body has a harder time protecting itself.

People who smoke are two to four times more likely to develop AMD.

Smoking also exposes your body to toxic chemicals. Cigarette smoke has thousands of harmful chemicals, including arsenic and formaldehyde. When you smoke, these chemicals circulate in the bloodstream. Eventually, they make their way to your eyes, harming delicate structures like the macula. Your macula is part of the retina. It’s responsible for central vision (viewing what’s in front of you).

Smoking also reduces blood flow. Your eyes rely on good blood circulation to stay healthy. Decreased blood flow caused by smoking keeps your eyes from receiving much-needed oxygen and nutrients.

Smoking can double or even quadruple the risk of developing AMD. But smoking doesn’t just increase your risk of AMD. It also puts you at risk for other eye conditions, like cataracts and thyroid eye disease. For people living with diabetes, smoking may increase the progression of diabetic retinopathy, an eye problem that can cause blindness.

How Smoking Affects AMD Progression

People who smoke tend to get AMD 10 years earlier than those who do not. Secondhand smoke also puts others around you at higher risk for health issues like AMD. While you can’t change the past, quitting now can make a big difference in your future vision.

Smoking can make Wet AMD treatment less effective — meaning vision loss can happen faster, and the risk of becoming legally blind increases.

If you already have AMD in one eye, continuing to smoke increases the chances of it developing in the other eye as well. People who smoke are also more likely to have dry AMD turn into wet AMD. Wet AMD is harder to treat, and smoking can make treatment less effective. This means damage can happen faster, and the risk of experiencing severe vision loss, including legal blindness, increases.

Geographic atrophy (GA) is the final stage of dry AMD. At this stage, the damage to your retina is permanent and will continue to progress to vision loss. Since smoking promotes AMD progression, it raises your chances of ending up with GA. If you smoke, quitting is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent GA. Quitting also helps preserve your vision after being diagnosed with GA.

Finally, smoking puts you at an increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and lung cancer. Quitting now gives you the best chance to stay healthy for whatever opportunities the future may bring.

How To Stick With Quitting

Many people who smoke have tried quitting before, often more than once. Smoking cessation is rarely a straight path. Sometimes, you might take one step back after taking two steps forward.

Quitting smoking can be difficult, but meeting with a smoking cessation counselor or using nicotine replacement therapies are great tools to help you successfully quit smoking.

In fact, studies show that trying to quit smoking multiple times actually increases your chance of being successful. People who have tried quitting in the past year are more likely to quit for good than those who are trying for the first time.

Meet With a Counselor

There are many resources available to help you quit smoking. Meeting with a smoking cessation counselor can help you create a quit plan. For free counseling over the phone, you can call the National Cancer Institute’s Smoking Quitline at 877-448-7848. You can also connect to a quitline in your state by calling 800-784-8669.

Avoid Turning to Vapes or E-Cigarettes

Some people turn to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) or vaping to help them quit smoking. However, e-cigarettes are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help with smoking cessation. E-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals and can be addictive. They’re much newer than regular cigarettes, so there’s a lot we don’t know about their health effects.

Try Nicotine Replacement Therapy

On the other hand, prescription medications and over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) can improve your chances of quitting. NRT gives your body a measured dose of nicotine while helping you overcome the physical habit of lighting up a cigarette.

These products come in different forms, including:

• Lozenges
• Skin patches
• Nasal sprays
• Inhalers

Always check with your healthcare provider before trying any product to quit smoking. They can help you find out if it’s safe for you to use.

Other Changes To Protect Your Eyes

Quitting smoking should be a top priority, but other lifestyle changes can help, too. For example, studies by the National Eye Institute found that a certain mix of antioxidant vitamins can help slow the progression of AMD.

This special formula includes the following nutrients:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Lutein
• Zeaxanthin
• Zinc
• Copper

Multivitamins and a healthy diet can provide similar nutrients. But the AREDS2 formula vitamin (based on the Age-Related Eye Disease Studies) is specifically designed and tested for AMD. Ask your ophthalmologist if they recommend these vitamins to help protect your vision.

Additionally, finding safe ways to exercise daily is good for both your eyes and spirit. Regular eye exams are also important to monitor your condition and stay updated on any new treatment options.

Scientists are working on new treatment options for all stages of AMD. Some technologies being explored include gene therapies, antioxidant injections, targeted drugs for the immune system, and stem cell transplants. These treatments may help restore some visual function or slow progression in ways previously thought impossible. You can ask your healthcare provider about specific drugs that have already been approved by the FDA to treat your condition.

It’s never too late to make positive changes to slow AMD progression. No matter how many tries it takes, quitting smoking is worth it.

Talk With Others Who Understand

On myAMDteam, people share their experiences with age-related macular degeneration, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

Do you think direct exposure to tobacco smoke or secondhand smoke affected your risk of age-related macular degeneration? Let others know in the comments below.