The study, released yesterday by federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge, found that 28 per cent of all macular degeneration was due to smoking. Dr Wooldridge, who launched an advertising campaign that centres on the damage of smoking to the eye, said smoking had been proven as the leading cause of permanent blindness in Australia through its damage to the macula. Dr Wooldridge said he was shocked at the degree of disability from impaired vision and blindness that was caused by smoking. The latest part of the campaign was aimed at young people because of the alarming number taking up smoking, he said. Young women were of particular concern, with 44 per cent indicating they smoked, compared to a 22 per cent average for the rest of the population, he said.
Young people feel they're indestructible.
So the most recent ads we're running focus on disability rather than death. Dr Wooldridge said that about 20,000 Australians had macular degeneration that could be attributed to smoking and about 8000 of these people would develop blindness in both eyes as a result. Hugh Taylor, of the University of Melbourne's department of ophthalmology, said the preventable risk of smoking needed to be tackled now as eye problems were estimated to double over the next 20 years as the population aged. Professor Taylor said smoking led to oxidative damage to the macula that was responsible for direct vision, such as reading or recognising faces. He said symptoms could range from blurred or obscured vision to total blindness as the retina degenerated.