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Blindness: Another reason to quit smoking
by Natalie James - January 2, 2010 - comments
The study found that women who were smokers had 11 percent higher rates of AMD than women of their age who did not smoke
Los Angeles, January 2 -- U.S. scientists have come up with another reason for smokers to kick the habit. It may increase a person’s risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, a condition that leads to darkness or blurred vision, according to a new study.
Researchers with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that cigarette smoking can increase older people’s risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among older people in America.
AMD: Major cause of blindness
AMD is a degenerative retinal disease that gradually destroys sharp, central vision and leaves only peripheral vision. The condition affects the macula, the part of the eye that allows you to see fine details, and it occurs in two forms: wet and dry.
Lucentis is particularly helpful for patients who are ailing from ‘wet’ form of macular degeneration. Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels behind the retina start to grow under the macula (central retina).
Study details
According to the new study, smoking continues to raise one's risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), even after the age of 80.
To determine whether age influences the effects of smoking on the risk of developing the condition, UCLA researchers followed a group of 1,958 women, of whom 4 percent or 75 women smoked. These women, 78-years of age at the start of the baseline exam, went through retinal photographs that were taken at intervals of five-year.
Research team, headed by Dr. Anne Coleman, professor of ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, found that women who were smokers had 11 percent higher rates of AMD than women of their age who did not smoke. Further, they found that 80-plus women who smoked were 5.5 times more likely to develop the condition than those who did not.
Dr. Coleman says that “this research provides the first accurate snapshot of how smoking affects AMD risk later in life.”
She notes the bottom line is that “it’s never too late to quit smoking. We found that even older people’s eyes will benefit from kicking the habit.”
Age and smoking are two major risk factors for AMD. Smoking reduces the levels of antioxidants, alters blood flow to the eyes, and lowers levels of pigments in the retina.
Dr. Paul Sieving, director of the National Eye Institute, has welcomed Dr. Coleman’s findings.
"This study provides yet another compelling reason to stop smoking and suggests that it is never too late to quit," said Dr. Sieving, according to Sun-Times.
The findings appear in the January edition of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.