Smoking Speeds Up Eye Damage, Even Light Smoking Harms Heart

0:00It's March 24. This is Vancouver News today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that smoking or breathing in second-hand smoke speeds up age-related damage to the eyes, with younger eyes taking the biggest hit. The study shows smoke alters genetic activity in eye cells, making them weaker and less able to handle stress. To uncover this, the team exposed mice to cigarette smoke and check changes in gene expression. They then compared those results to eye tissue from human organ donors, smokers, and non-smokers alike. Remarkably, the same 1,698 genes shifted in both mice and people. Smoking has long been linked to serious health issues, with more than 16 million Americans living with related diseases. Smokers face four times the risk of vision loss and blindness compared to non-smokers. Meanwhile, a separate Johns Hopkins study warns that even light smoking, like just a few cigarettes a day, brings major heart risks.

1:03Cutting back offers little protection, so quitting completely stands out as the best path forward. These findings, backed by the National Institutes of Health and Others, drive home how quickly smoke harms vital organs, urging everyone to make. Helping a top priority for long-term eye and heart health.