Even in people older than 80 years, smoking significantly increases the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration - the main cause of blindness in Americans over 65 years, say researchers from the University of Los Angeles. For non-smokers of older people, such a strong relationship was not revealed, according to the Internet edition for girls and women from 14 to 35 years old Pannochka. Net With age-related degeneration of the macula, the retina collapses, and it becomes more difficult for a person to see small details. With such damage, a person sees darkness or blurriness directly in front of him: this prevents him from reading, driving and even recognizing faces. Smoking is the second risk factor after the age of the disease. This study aimed to determine the effect of age on the degree of increased risk of macular degeneration from smoking.

Scientists examined 1958 women, who from the age of 78 retina scan every 5 years. 4% (75) women were smokers. The researchers compared the findings of a retina scan at the age of 78 and 83 years to detect the presence of macular degeneration and evaluated the effect of smoking on the development of the disease. This study first shows how smoking affects the risk of developing macular degeneration at a later age, experts say.

In general, for smokers the risk of the disease was 11% higher than that of their non-smokers. But for women over 80, smoking increased the risk of macular degeneration by a factor of 5.5. After 80 years, the disease progresses slightly faster, but smokers - much faster, explained the experts. According to the authors of the study, smoking increases the risk of the disease by lowering the level of serum antioxidants, changing blood flow to the eyes and reducing retinal pigmentation.

The study was funded by the National Eye Institute and the National Institute of Aging. About 1.75 million. Of US residents suffer from progressive degeneration of the macula with loss of vision, and by 2020 their number may be almost 3 million. The results of the work will be published in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

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