The risk of a degenerative eye disease is raised due to smoking, according to a research.
The risk of a degenerative eye disease is raised due to smoking, according to a research. The macula of the eye degenerates with higher levels of smoking, which will affect tasks like driving and reading which require fine central vision. About 435 people who suffered from end stage macular degeneration were studied along with the partners who lived with them.
It was also found that it was the amount smoked rather than whether someone had ever smoked that was critical. While regularly smoking a pack or more a day for 40 years almost tripled the risk of age related macular degeneration, the risks faced by non-smoking partners had nearly doubled.It was also discovered that while smoking increased the risk of both types of macular degeneration, geographic atrophy and choroidal neovascularisation, giving up for 20 years or more cut the risk to levels comparable with those for non-smokers.
The research is published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Edited (ANI)
