Vaping and the eyes

Blog vol 4.32. Vaping and the eyes

My first blog of 2024, very creatively I might add, was on fitness, diet, and good habits to take care of your eyes (and the rest of you). Smoking is not a good habit, but how about vaping as an alternative? One of my staff, concerned about a young adult in their home, asked about the effects of vaping on the eyes. I thought that this was an interesting question…

It is common knowledge that smoking cigarettes is bad for your eyes, with one of the culprits being nicotine which is highly addictive and causes systemic circulatory problems.  There are many chemicals involved in smoking, 7000 in total!! wow, that has to do with the by-products of burning the tobacco. Smoking causes damage to the retina and retinal circulation and significantly increases the risk of other problems such as cataracts, diabetic eye problems, and glaucoma. All parties involved in eye care agree that smoking is bad for the eyes.

What about vaping? It is not traditional cigarette smoke which contains many chemicals some of which are toxic, but it is a vapour made up of nicotine extracted from tobacco, flavours, and other chemicals which are heated up into an aerosol. It is better for your health than cigarettes because there are fewer toxic chemicals involved and you can have some control over your nicotine consumption. The problem is that there are many products out there with many different ingredients, nicotine in varying concentrations, and other chemicals.  The long-term effects of some of these chemicals are as yet unknown. (Read more here).

The use of vaping has increased exponentially. Vaping has become popular because it reduces the stigma of smoking (no smell), you get neat flavours, and it seems healthier. People are presenting with vaping-related lung problems, though at present it does appear that many of these occur when people modify their devices, add substances not suggested by the manufacturer, or use black market products particularly those containing THC. Again, the long-term effects of responsible vaping are unknown. We do know that nicotine is not good.

On a less serious note, interestingly, a great article in Scientific American pointed out the correlation between dry eyes and vaping (click here). The vaping product messes up the cornea’s ability to metabolize iron products with the result being, the more you vape the more your eyes dry. Dry eyes can be treated, however. 

The main point with vaping, it seems, is that nicotine is highly addictive and not good for you. Used responsibly, probably better than smoking, but ideally avoided.



All the best,

The good doctor