Macular degeneration is the result of damage inside the eye that can lead to irreversible blindness. It can occur in one or both eyes and cause a permanent‘blind spot’ directly in the line of sight (the opposite effect of tunnel vision). It has a direct effect on peoples’ daily lives,severely limiting their ability to carry out everyday tasks such as driving, reading, writing or even recognizing faces.

Smoking leads to oxidative or other damage to the macula (this is the part of the retina at the back of the eye that we use when we look directly at someone or when reading). It may also constrict blood vessels to this area. There are two types of macular degeneration. In the first,critical parts of the macula may die (atrophy) or, in the second type(which is more common), critical parts of the macula are weakened,allowing abnormal new blood vessels to break through and bleed. This second type of macular degeneration leads to scarring of the macula and severe loss of the central area of vision. People may initially notice distortion of straight lines and then a dark or grayish patch develops in the center of vision, completely obscuring what they are looking at.

Smoking may cause both types of macular degeneration and the resulting blindness is irreversible. The process can be stopped using laser treatment only if the condition is caught in its early stages.

Some interesting facts on smoking and macular degeneration:

• Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness and is the major preventable cause of this condition.
• The chemicals in cigarette smoke (around 4000 of them) get into the bloodstream of smokers and may induce the damage to the macula, at the back of the eye. This damage results in macular degeneration and blindness over time.
• The damage from macular degeneration limits the ability of a person to see what they are looking directly at (such as the face of someone they are talking to).
• Macular degeneration also limits color vision.
• Laser surgery cannot reverse the damage resulting from macular degeneration(except in a minority of cases detected in the very early stages).However, laser surgery may retard and or prevent the progression of the disease and reduce the visual loss. Recurrence of the condition occurs in about half of those who have initial successful laser treatment. For people who continue to smoke, almost all develop a recurrence.
• Many people with macular degeneration do not realize that they have the condition until their second eye starts to deteriorate, as one eye can compensate for the other.
• Up to two thirds of people with macular degeneration in one eye will ultimately lose sight in both eyes from this condition.
• When a smoker quits, the recovery process in some other parts of the body can begin almost immediately. Although it is not known whether stopping smoking reduces the risk to the second eye, it seems likely given evidence that links current smoking to development of macular condition.
• Providing they live long enough, one in four people will lose vision because of macular degeneration. Smoking increases this risk dramatically and may cause the loss of vision at an earlier age than it might otherwise occur