A new survey has shown that smokers have double chances of losing their sight than non-smokers. It turned out that smoking causes age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which can lead to blindness. However, ignorance about this condition is widespread. Only about 7% of people who participated in the survey knew about AMD and its affect on eyes. 41% people said they would stop smoking permanently and 28% would cut down if they knew that smoking could harm their eyesight. Many of those people who have found out about this relation are ready to stop smoking. This is, in fact, quite strange knowing that risk of cancer did not scare the smokers.
The number of people who are not aware of this condition should be decreased and The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is calling on the Government to increase awareness of AMD in the public.