July 8th, 2008
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This news item is more than a year old. Links, graphics, content, medical information, and statistics may be out of date. We invite you to search, visit our homepage, or contact us to find more current information on the topic you're looking for.Smoking, even second-hand, ups risk of eye disease
Wed Dec 21, 2005
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smoking cigarettes, or living with someone who does, increases a person's risk of developing a progressively degenerative eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration or AMD, according to a study conducted in the UK.
"Smoking puts you at increased risk of losing your sight in old age and the more you smoke the higher the risk," Dr. John Yates from the University of Cambridge told Reuters Health. "Smoking also increases the risk for the people living with you. So these are two good reasons to stop smoking."
More information on smoking
Reference:
Smoking and age related macular degeneration: the number of pack years of cigarette smoking is a major determinant of risk for both geographic atrophy and choroidal neovascularisation
J C Khan, D A Thurlby, H Shahid, D G Clayton, J R W Yates, M Bradley, A T Moore, A C Bird for the Genetic Factors in AMD Study
Br J Ophthalmol 2006; 90: 75-80.