Study Links E-Cigarette Switching to 7% Higher Eye-Disease Risk

3 articles · Updated · reviewofoptometry.com · Jun 18

A Korean cohort study of 32,316 former smokers found people who switched to e-cigarettes or other noncombustible nicotine products had a 7% higher risk of major vision-impairing eye diseases than those who quit nicotine entirely.
Incidence reached 44.0 per 1,000 person-years in switchers versus 41.1 in quitters over 4.6 years, with 6,328 eye-disease events recorded among nearly 180,000 adults initially screened.
The biggest risk increases appeared in diabetic retinopathy, with a hazard ratio of 1.24, and refractive or accommodation disorders, at 1.07; researchers said the pattern held across sensitivity analyses.
The authors pointed to nicotine-linked oxidative stress, microvascular injury, inflammation and tear-film or accommodative dysfunction, concluding that complete nicotine abstinence should remain the preferred cessation goal.