I saw this report in my professional journal and thought that it may be of interest to you.

The risk of female smokers developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) continues to rise for those over the age of 80, according to a new study in the USA.

Researchers in UCLA have found that women who smoke have a increase risk of 11% in comparison to non smokers of the same age.The risk in the over 80's is worse; you are 5.5 times more likely to get the disease in comparison with non smokers of the same age.

Dr Anne Coleman, the lead author of the study said: “The take-home message is that it’s never too late to quit smoking.

“We found that even older people’s eyes will benefit from kicking the habit.”

The study was the first study on people over 75: there were 1958 women who took part and 4% of those were smokers.

Dr Coleman explained: “Age is the strongest predictor for AMD, yet most of the research in this field has been conducted in people younger than 75. Our population was considerably older than those previously studied. This research provides the first accurate snapshot of how smoking affects AMD risk later in life.”

It has been known for a while that after age, smoking is the second most common risk factor of AMD. Explaining the results,  Dr Coleman said: “We saw a slightly higher rate of AMD in women after age 80, but the rate was dramatically higher in older women who smoked. The bottom line is that AMD risk increases with age. And if you smoke, your risk of developing the disease rises even further.”

The study was published in this month’s edition of The American Journal of Ophthalmology. I found it in Optometry Today.