Smoking doubles visual disability risk
Smoking doubles the risk of blindness or partial sight due to age-related macular degeneration, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have found. Around 28,000 people in the UK suffer from this condition due to smoking. However, people who stopped smoking more than 20 years prior to taking part in the study had no increased risk of AMD and visual impairment. The research was part of the MRC Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community and was co-funded by the Department of Health and the Scottish Office.
British Journal of Ophthalmology 2005; 89: 550-553