Originally published September 22 2005
Smokers are twice as likely to go blind, research finds
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Research shows smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to lose their eyesight to age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness that the AMD Alliance UK says is as strongly linked to smoking as lung cancer.
Smokers are twice as likely to lose their sight in later life compared to non-smokers, campaigners warn.
They can become victims of age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.
The AMD Alliance UK says the link between smoking and the eye condition is now as robust as the connection between smoking and lung cancer.
AMD is the leading cause of sight loss in Britain, with around 500,000 sufferers.
An estimated 54,000 have it through smoking.
But there is widespread ignorance about the condition.
A survey of more than 1,000 people published on the Royal National Institute of the Blind's Eye Test Action Day found that only seven percent knew that AMD affected the eyes.
But seven out of ten smokers said they would stop smoking permanently or cut down if they thought the habit could harm their eyesight.
AMD sufferer Pauline Edwards, 50, from Salford, said she had smoked most of her adult life, but would have stopped if she had been aware of the link with sight loss.
Now I have AMD, am partially sighted in one eye and am likely to go blind," she added.
"The message is simple: Do not take up smoking, and if you do, stop.
People also need to make sure they have regular eye tests to check their eyes are healthy.
The RNIB is calling on the Government to introduce warnings on cigarette packets about the risk of AMD and to fund a public awareness campaign on the dangers of smoking to eyesight.
It is also joining the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in calling for a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces across the UK.
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