LONDON - The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) has said that young people are unaware of the fact that smoking could lead to blindness. The charity says that if the government were to fund a national campaign, then young people could give up smoking.
For evidence, it cites an article in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, which found that the fear of blindness was more of a deterrent than anything else. The study surveyed around 250 clubbers in Winchester, Manchester and Southampton. All responders were aged between 16 to 18 years.
On a scale of 5, most rated the fear of lung cancer as 3, while sight loss was rated 4. Furthermore nine of the ten surveyed felt that they would quit smoking if they saw the first signs of vision trouble. Smoking is known to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD, but only 2 percent of those surveyed were aware of this complication.
"The problem with anti-smoking campaigns targeted at teenagers is that they feel they're invincible," said RNIB campaigns manager, Barbara McLaughlan. "It really is important that the link between smoking and blindness becomes common knowledge."
Dr Simon Kelly, who is the co-author of the report appearing in the journal agreed. "When patients are told smoking is damaging their eyes, in my experience, they are usually keen to quit smoking," he added.
Smoking is a common issue in teenagers and it is very difficult to convince them to kick the habit. However the present study highlights the fact that spreading awareness of the risk of blindness might just do the trick.
