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BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
15 September,2005: Recent researches have shown that smoking can double the risk of blindness.
The link between smoking and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is now as strong as smoking and lung cancer, studies reveal.
AMD is the leading cause of sight loss in the UK: some 500,000 have the condition, of these around 54,000 are said to have AMD as a result of smoking. Yet, a report from AMD Alliance UK reveals that just 7 per cent of people in the UK know that AMD can affect sight. However, seven out of 10 smokers asked said they would either stop smoking or cut down if they thought it could damage their eyesight.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has launched a hard-hitting campaign to warn the public about the condition calling on the government to fund a major disease awareness campaign on the dangers to your eyesight of smoking.
Simon Kelly, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Bolton Eye Unit and co-author of the research report, said: “Knowledge of the link between smoking and AMD is very low but evidence from Australia and New Zealand shows that raising awareness of this link creates a powerful message for the general public.”
The charity, which is joining the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in calling for a ban on smoking in public places and offices, has also called on the government to introduce warnings on cigarette packets about the dangers associated with smoking and AMD.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT |
