In addition to having a huge impact on cardiovascular and pulmonary health, indulging in a smoking habit can also affect a person's ocular health. The study, published in Psychiatry Research, took a look at the impact that heavy smoking has on color vision.
The study involved 71 participants who had smoked fewer than 15 cigarettes in their lives along with 63 smokers who smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day and had made no attempts to stop smoking. Ages ranged from 25 to 45 and all had normal vision according to standard acuity charts.
Researchers found that the heavy smokers had dramatic changes in their red-green and blue-yellow color vision with a lessened ability to differentiate between contrast and colors compared to their non-smoking counterparts. In addition to diminished color vision, long-term smokers double their risk for age-related macular degeneration.