Can Vaping Cause Dry Eye?

Can vaping cause dry eyes? Since e-cigarettes emerged as a "healthier" smoking alternative and a smoking cessation device, the number of users has gradually increased. The eyes are the organs that come into contact with e-cigarette vapor the most during use. Clinically, symptoms and signs such as dry eye surface and poor tear film quality have been observed in e-cigarette users, indicating that e-cigarettes may pose potential harm to the eyes. Professor Nur Amalina Md Isa conducted experiments to explore the effects of long-term e-cigarette use on ocular surface health. The research findings were published in Optom Vis Sci, let’s take a closer look!
 
Comparison of Ocular Surface Health between E-cigarette Users and Non-smokers

This study was a cross-sectional study involving 42 male participants, with 21 e-cigarette users and 21 non-smokers. The study collected data on ocular surface disease index, non-invasive tear break-up time, fluorescein staining tear break-up time, ocular surface fluorescein staining, tear meniscus height, and Schirmer test results, and analyzed the impact of battery voltage during e-cigarette use.

Results

E-cigarettes can cause dry eyes!

Compared to non-smokers, e-cigarette users exhibited moderate to severe dry eye and impaired tear film function. This was manifested as shortened non-invasive tear break-up time, shortened fluorescein staining tear break-up time, and reduced tear meniscus height.

Compared to non-smokers, e-cigarette users showed increased Schirmer test results, suggesting that they may increase tear secretion to alleviate dry eye symptoms.

Increased battery voltage of e-cigarettes can exacerbate dry eye, as it increases the release of harmful substances such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein.

Conclusion

E-cigarettes are not as "harmless" as marketed; at least their adverse effects on the ocular surface are similar to those of regular cigarettes.