Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthier move, but a massive nationwide study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that smokeless alternatives could increase the risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine altogether.Researchers from the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, analyzed health data from a group of 179,273 adults through the Korean National Health Insurance Service, according to a press release.All participants had smoked traditional cigarettes between 2011 and 2012 and then quit smoking by 2018 or 2019, they reported.SINGLE WORKOUT CUTS CRAVINGS, OFFERING NEW HOPE FOR SMOKERS TRYING TO QUITTo ensure a fair comparison, the researchers paired up participants who shared similar backgrounds, including their age, gender, medical history, existing health conditions and general lifestyle habits.Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthy move, but a large study suggests it could pose a risk to eye health.(iStock)This process created a balanced group of 32,316 matched participants, who were divided into two categories: complete quitters who stopped using all nicotine products and those who transitioned to smokeless nicotine products, such as vapes.The researchers followed the participants for an average of 4.6 years to determine whether they developed eye conditions, including cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and focus-related eyesight disorders.5 WAYS TO PRESERVE YOUR VISION AS YOU AGE, ACCORDING TO AN OPHTHALMOLOGISTOver the tracking period, the group experienced a total of 6,328 major eye disease events.
People who quit nicotine entirely had the lowest disease rate in the study, at 41.1 cases per 1,000 person-years (a measure that accounts for both the number of people in the study and how long they were followed).In comparison, that rate rose to 44 cases for individuals who had switched over ...