According to Reuters, a new long-term study recently published in the journal Ophthalmology (Ophthalmology) points out that people who smoke are susceptible to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Age-related macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a senile change in the structure of the macula. The main manifestation is that retinal pigment epithelial cells have a decreased ability to phagocytose and digest the disc membrane of the outer segments of the optic cells, as a result of which the incompletely digested residual vesicles of the disc membrane are retained in the cellular plasma of the base and are expelled out of the cells and deposited in the Bruch’s membrane, forming vitreous membrane warts. Dr. Bressler of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, said that a long-term smoking habit is highly likely to increase the risk of worsening AMD and lead to loss of central vision. It is now widely recognized that smoking damages the retinal blood vessels and worsens macular degeneration. Dr. Myers, the first author of the article, used data from the Beaver Dam Ophthalmology Trial to investigate the correlation between smoking behavior and the risk of AMD onset and progression. The trial was initiated in 1988 and involved approximately 5,000 adult subjects who were followed every five years. The current study, which focused on 4,439 of these subjects, showed that over a 20-year period, 24.4% of subjects developed early AMD and 4.5% progressed to advanced AMD. In the smoking population, there was a 36% increased risk of mild early AMD progressing to moderate early AMD, and a slightly increased risk of progression to severe advanced AMD. Although there is no clear evidence that smoking cessation reduces or prevents the onset or progression of AMD, the researchers agree that smoking is associated with age-related macular degeneration and urge people to stay away from cigarettes.