Blindness From Smoking

Blindness From Smoking

Teenagers fear blindness more than lung cancer or stroke
nine out of 10 don t know that smoking can rob them of their vision in later life.
Teenagers fear blindness more than lung cancer or stroke
but nine out of 10 don t know that smoking can rob them of their vision in later life
reveals research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The findings are based on the responses of 260 clubbers aged between 16 and 18
collected at four UK venues in Bournemouth
Winchester
Manchester and Southampton.

One in five of the young women were daily smokers (21%)
compared with around one in seven (15%) of the young men. The teens were asked if they knew about the link between smoking and certain diseases
such as stroke
lung cancer
heart disease
and blindness. Deafness
which is not caused by smoking
was also included
in a bid to balance out the responses.

They were then asked to rank their fears of each disease. Awareness that smoking caused lung cancer was high
with 81% of respondents recognising the causal link. But the teenagers were not so well informed about the other health consequences of smoking. Just over one in four (27%) realised smoking was linked to heart disease
and only 15% realised that smoking could also lead to stroke. Just 5% correctly identified that smoking can also cause blindness
mostly as a result of age related macular degeneration
or AMD for short. The figure was even lower among those who smoked
just 2% of whom recognised the link.

But teens were far more frightened of losing their vision than of any other smoking related disease
giving it an average score of 4
compared with 3 for lung cancer
and 2 for heart disease and stroke. Nine out of 10 of the teens said they would give up at the first signs of blindness
prompting the authors to suggest that public health messages about smoking which are aimed at teens
should include the risks of blindness. While the prevalence of smoking has fallen in the UK
rates among teenagers are still high
warn the authors.

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