Smoking, leading cause of blindness

Smoking not only places individuals at an increased risk of various health conditions but also increases the pace of age-related macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration is a chronic eye disease and the leading cause of blindness among the elderly.

The condition is characterized by the deterioration of the macula — a part in the eye responsible for central vision — which leads to progressive vision loss.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, smokers are 11 percent more prone to AMD.

Smokers aged more than 80 are also 5.5 times more likely to develop the disease, the study found.

Researchers therefore urged individuals to quit smoking in order to save their visual sight, stressing that it is never too late.

"We found that even older people's eyes will benefit from kicking the habit," said lead researcher Anne Coleman.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115186§ionid=3510210.