According to recent research, smoking cigarettes incredibly increases the risk of vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration. What’s more, that risk hits not only smokers but also people living with them.
Macular degeneration is a progressive eye disease. It is one of the major causes of partial vision loss and blindness in the US and many European countries.
In a recent study, published in the current issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, scientists examined 435 patients with end-stage macular degeneration and 280 people living with them.
Nearly triple the risk
People smoking regularly a pack of cigarettes daily (or more) for 40 years had nearly triple the risk of age-related macular degeneration in comparison to non-smokers. The scientists revealed that smoking escalated the risk of both of the two main types of macular degeneration.
However, giving up smoking for 20 years or more decreased the risk to a level comparable with people who’d never smoked.
The research also discovered that non-smokers living with smokers for 5 years or more had nearly double the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
The macula, located at the center of the retina at the back of the eye, is crucial for the fine central vision essential for tasks such as driving a car and reading.
