• About
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE
  • Latest News
  • All Sections
    • Ophthalmic insights
      • Policy & regulation
      • Company updates & acquisitions
      • Research
      • Clinical trials
      • Workforce
      • Product approvals
      • Conferences
      • Opinion
      • Indigenous eye health
      • Retail
    • Eye disease
      • Dry eye
      • Myopia
      • Cataract
      • Glaucoma
      • Macular disease – AMD
      • Diabetic eye disease
      • Inherited retinal disease
      • Corneal disease
      • Presbyopia
      • Eye infections
    • Ophthalmic Careers
      • New appointments
      • Industry profiles
      • Graduates
    • Ophthalmic organisations
      • Regulators
      • Optometry networks
      • Private ophthalmology clinics
      • Associations
      • Patient support bodies
      • Eye research institutions
      • Optometry schools
      • Optical Dispensing trainers
      • Medical schools
      • RANZCO
  • Features
    • Report
    • Soapbox
  • Ophthalmic education
    • CPD – Optometry
    • Optical Dispensing
    • Orthoptics Australia
    • Practice management
  • Products
    • Ophthalmic Treatments
      • Ophthalmic lenses
      • Lens treatments
      • Myopia interventions
      • Light-based therapy
      • Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS)
      • Gene therapy
      • Laser treatments
      • Supplements
      • Eyewear & frames
      • Behavioural optometry/vision training
      • Contact lenses
      • Anti-VEGF
      • Intraocular lenses (IOLs)
      • Pharmaceuticals & consumables
    • Ophthalmic equipment & diagnostics
      • Biometry – axial length
      • Perimetry & visual fields
      • OCT
      • Phoropter
      • Autorefractor
      • Tonometry
      • Topography
      • Multimodal imaging
      • Retinal imaging
      • Anterior segment imaging
      • Software & data management
      • Microscopes
      • Slit lamps
      • Lens edging
      • Stands, chairs and tables
      • Ultrasound
      • Dry eye diagnostics
      • Low vision aids
  • Research
  • Classifieds
No Results
View All Results
  • Latest News
  • All Sections
    • Ophthalmic insights
      • Policy & regulation
      • Company updates & acquisitions
      • Research
      • Clinical trials
      • Workforce
      • Product approvals
      • Conferences
      • Opinion
      • Indigenous eye health
      • Retail
    • Eye disease
      • Dry eye
      • Myopia
      • Cataract
      • Glaucoma
      • Macular disease – AMD
      • Diabetic eye disease
      • Inherited retinal disease
      • Corneal disease
      • Presbyopia
      • Eye infections
    • Ophthalmic Careers
      • New appointments
      • Industry profiles
      • Graduates
    • Ophthalmic organisations
      • Regulators
      • Optometry networks
      • Private ophthalmology clinics
      • Associations
      • Patient support bodies
      • Eye research institutions
      • Optometry schools
      • Optical Dispensing trainers
      • Medical schools
      • RANZCO
  • Features
    • Report
    • Soapbox
  • Ophthalmic education
    • CPD – Optometry
    • Optical Dispensing
    • Orthoptics Australia
    • Practice management
  • Products
    • Ophthalmic Treatments
      • Ophthalmic lenses
      • Lens treatments
      • Myopia interventions
      • Light-based therapy
      • Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS)
      • Gene therapy
      • Laser treatments
      • Supplements
      • Eyewear & frames
      • Behavioural optometry/vision training
      • Contact lenses
      • Anti-VEGF
      • Intraocular lenses (IOLs)
      • Pharmaceuticals & consumables
    • Ophthalmic equipment & diagnostics
      • Biometry – axial length
      • Perimetry & visual fields
      • OCT
      • Phoropter
      • Autorefractor
      • Tonometry
      • Topography
      • Multimodal imaging
      • Retinal imaging
      • Anterior segment imaging
      • Software & data management
      • Microscopes
      • Slit lamps
      • Lens edging
      • Stands, chairs and tables
      • Ultrasound
      • Dry eye diagnostics
      • Low vision aids
  • Research
  • Classifieds
No Results
View All Results
Home Events Conferences International

Smoking and alcohol linked to increased risk of AMD

by rhiannon bowman
December 20, 2021
in International, News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Current smokers can develop AMD 5.5 years earlier than never smokers, a study found.

Current smokers can develop AMD 5.5 years earlier than never smokers, a study found.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Are smoking, alcohol intake, blood pressure, body mass index, and glycemic traits associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?

A group of researchers from University College London, Queen Mary University of London, University of Cambridge, and Moorfields Eye Hospital have completed a mendelian randomisation study to determine an answer.

According to their study findings, genetically predicted smoking initiation and lifetime smoking were associated with elevated risk of advanced AMD, and genetically predicted alcohol intake was associated with increased risk of geographic atrophy (GA).

Genetically predicted smoking cessation was associated with decreased risk of advanced AMD.

There was insufficient evidence to associate genetically predicted blood pressure, body mass index, and glycemic traits with advanced AMD.

Their study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, drew on data from the International AMD Genomics Consortium 2016 data set, which consisted of 16,144 individuals with AMD and 17,832 control individuals. Data were analysed from July 2020 to September 2021.

“To reduce the prevalence of advanced AMD in ageing populations, public health campaigns and programs to support smoking abstention, smoking cessation, and reduced alcohol intake should incorporate the evidence that these activities can lead to blindness,” the authors wrote.

These results also support previous observational studies associating smoking behaviour with risk of advanced AMD, thus reinforcing existing public health messages regarding the risk of blindness associated with smoking.

The study can be accessed here.

More reading

New online training to help patients quit smoking

Tags: age-related macular degenerationalcohol intakeJAMA OphthalmologySmokingUniversity College London

Related Posts

SCC 2025

SCC 2025 featuring hands-on binocular vision workshop with Dr Kate Gifford

by Staff Writer
July 17, 2025

In a move to elevate clinical excellence, the 2025 Specsavers Clinical Conference (SCC 2025) program will include a new practical...

The optometry school is proposed for James Cook University. Image: EQRoy/Shutterstock.com.

New Queensland optometry school under consideration despite opposition

by Myles Hume
July 16, 2025

A new optometry school – which would be Australia’s eighth – is being proposed in North Queensland, as debate about...

The meeting – running for a third time – welcomed a record 560-plus delegates from 37 countries. Image: APSPOS.

APSPOS 2025 recap; dual Brisbane conference success for Think Business Events

by Staff Writer
July 15, 2025

The 3rd Congress of the Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology Society (APSPOS), held in Brisbane from 29 June to 1...

Join our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

Insight has been the leading industry publication in Australia for more than 40 years. This longevity is largely due to our ability to consistently deliver accurate and independent news relevant to all ophthalmic professionals and their supporting industry.

Subscribe to our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

About Insight

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Collection Notice
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Topics

  • Business
  • Feature
  • Research
  • Technology
  • Therapies
  • Classifieds

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited

No Results
View All Results
NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE
  • Latest News
  • All Sections
    • Ophthalmic insights
      • Policy & regulation
      • Company updates & acquisitions
      • Research
      • Clinical trials
      • Workforce
      • Product approvals
      • Conferences
      • Opinion
      • Indigenous eye health
      • Retail
    • Eye disease
      • Dry eye
      • Myopia
      • Cataract
      • Glaucoma
      • Macular disease – AMD
      • Diabetic eye disease
      • Inherited retinal disease
      • Corneal disease
      • Presbyopia
      • Eye infections
    • Ophthalmic Careers
      • New appointments
      • Industry profiles
      • Graduates
    • Ophthalmic organisations
      • Regulators
      • Optometry networks
      • Private ophthalmology clinics
      • Associations
      • Patient support bodies
      • Eye research institutions
      • Optometry schools
      • Optical Dispensing trainers
      • Medical schools
      • RANZCO
  • Features
    • Report
    • Soapbox
  • Ophthalmic education
    • CPD – Optometry
    • Optical Dispensing
    • Orthoptics Australia
    • Practice management
  • Products
    • Ophthalmic Treatments
      • Ophthalmic lenses
      • Lens treatments
      • Myopia interventions
      • Light-based therapy
      • Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS)
      • Gene therapy
      • Laser treatments
      • Supplements
      • Eyewear & frames
      • Behavioural optometry/vision training
      • Contact lenses
      • Anti-VEGF
      • Intraocular lenses (IOLs)
      • Pharmaceuticals & consumables
    • Ophthalmic equipment & diagnostics
      • Biometry – axial length
      • Perimetry & visual fields
      • OCT
      • Phoropter
      • Autorefractor
      • Tonometry
      • Topography
      • Multimodal imaging
      • Retinal imaging
      • Anterior segment imaging
      • Software & data management
      • Microscopes
      • Slit lamps
      • Lens edging
      • Stands, chairs and tables
      • Ultrasound
      • Dry eye diagnostics
      • Low vision aids
  • Research
  • Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Insight
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Insight

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited