May 31 2005
Age Related Macular Degeneration and Smoking
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 30 - Older adults who smoke are twice as likely to have age related macular degeneration (AMD) than their non-smoking peers, according to findings from the largest study to look at this association in a British population.
Smoking is known to be a risk factor for AMD, lead author Dr. Jennifer R. Evans and colleagues, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, note. However, the strength of the association among adults 75 years of age and older in the UK was unclear.
To investigate, the researchers analyzed data from 516 case patients and 4364 controls drawn from 49 general practices across Britain.
Current smoking status raised the risk of AMD by 2.15-fold compared with non-smoking, according to the report in the May issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Virtually no excess risk was seen in ex-smokers, especially those who had stopped more than 20 years previously.
Based on these findings, the authors estimate that 28,000 cases of AMD among older adults in the UK may be attributable to smoking.
“An increased risk of AMD, which is the most commonly occurring cause of blindness in the UK, is yet another reason for people to stop smoking and governments to develop public health campaigns against this hazard,” the researchers emphasize.
Br J Ophthalmol 2005;89:550-553.
~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information about Age Related Macular Degenerations (ARMD) click here.
Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen, LLC
Smoking is one of the risk factors, but there are many more.
This disease requires a lot of awareness and people have to know that there are many risk associated with their lifestyle that can lead to them being diagnosed with macular degeneration.
Even with all the new treatments available such as Lucentis, one still has to be vigilant and keep getting regular checkups at the doctor.
We can expect the governments such as the Ontario Government in Canada to continue to provide payment for expensive treatments and coverage for age related macular degeneration if we don’t take better care of ourselves.
Barry Wheeler
http://www.amdsupport.ca