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'Smoke gets in your eyes' more accurate than ever

If the possibility of heart disease and cancer isn't enough to discourage smokers, maybe the threat of blindness will be.

Researchers have now definitively linked smoking to an eye disease that leads to blindness. Recent research in Britain has found that smokers have a two to three times greater likelihood of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of lost vision in developed countries.

"AMD may reflect accumulation of oxidative damage in the retina," says Dr. Yu-Guang He, assistant professor of ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Smoking is well known to be associated with the generation of oxygen free radicals, which are directly responsible for oxidative damage. Smoking may also reduce choroidal blood flow in the eye, and promote ischemic, hypoxia and atrophy, all of which could increase the susceptibility of the macular to degenerative process."

Age-related macular degeneration afflicts about 1.75 million people in the United States. Approximately 20 percent of those over 75 years old have some AMD.

"It could cause severe, irreversible vision loss and there is no effective treatment, yet," says Dr. He, whose research is focused on macular degeneration. "Age is the most important risk factor and genetic susceptibility is also highly associated with the disease." Some modifiable risk factors, such as dietary choices and smoking, have been controversial.

The British study reviewed all of the epidemiological studies published in English and concluded the association of smoking and development of AMD. It also suggested there was a lack of awareness about the risks among both healthcare professionals and the general public.

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