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¹M.D., Pendik State Hospital, Eye Clinic, Istanbul/TURKEY
²M.D. Professor, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Istanbul/TURKEY Like many eye diseases, cataract has multifactorial etiology. In many studies, cigarette smoking has been reported as a dose-dependent risk factor for cataract formation. The aim of this review is to evaluate the relationship between smoking and age-related cataract formation. A total of 12 cross-sectional, seven case-control and 13 prospective studies met our inclusion criteria for clinical results. Data exhibited on all of these studies show that smoking is a strong risk factor for nuclear cataract but it has little association with cortical cataract. Also, there are conflicting evidences of a relationship between smoking and posterior subcapsular cataract. Current smokers are at higher risk of cataract than past smokers. Although the smoking cessation reduces the risk of cataract, the risk keeps on for many years by dose-related damage to the lens. Diminished level of antioxidants and raised level of free oxygen radicals in blood, aqueous humor and the lens caused by cigarette smoking are responsible for main cause of morphologic and functional alterations on the lens related to smoking. Keywords : Cigarette, smoking, cataract, antioxidants, free oxygen radicals