(http://www.PreserveMacForte.com) People who smoke cigarettes basically double their risk of coming down with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), reported The Leader recently.
According to the article, AMD is the primary cause of serious vision impairment for those older than 55 years old in the western world. The eye condition adversely impacts central, rather than peripheral vision. Over time, the ailment can hinder sufferers’ ability to read books, drive vehicles, watch television or even recognize the faces of family, close friends and neighbors.
According to the article, the World Health Organization has said that the only proven modifiable risk factor is smoking. It added that people who light up double their risk of getting AMD.
Colin Evans from Specsavers Opticas said in the article that there are lots of people who don’t even realize that smoking is a key contributor to the vision loss problem. Evans explained that the 4,000 or so chemicals in cigarettes can ultimately harm the macula and lead to vision impairment. In addition to AMD, smokers can also get cataracts, according to Evans in the article.
While there is no way to rule out the possibility of getting AMD, there are various things people can do to swing the odds into their favor. Avoiding smoking, as the article mentioned, is one of them. Regular exercise is also a good thing as it will help people to maintain an ideal body weight. This is important because some studies suggest that obesity can contribute to the eye ailment problem. It’s also important to make annual eye exams a part of the overall health routine. While no one wants to get macular degeneration, early diagnosis can help to halt progression or at least slow it down.
There are two types of AMD, namely the dry form and the wet form. Only a small fraction of the people who come down with the dry form go on to get the wet form. Wet AMD is the more serious of the two. It occurs when abnormal blood vessels form behind the eye and leak blood and other fluids that end up harming the macula.
Reference: http://www.theleader.info/article/38514/spain/costa-blanca/smokers-at-risk-from-sight-loss/