The Study
Smoking and the risk of age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis.
This study looked at lots of other studies and found that people who smoke are more likely to get a kind of eye disease called AMD. But it doesn't prove smoking makes the disease happen—maybe people who smoke also have other habits that hurt their eyes.
Analysis score
Maximum 85 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
This study looked at many older studies to see if smoking makes people more likely to lose their vision from a common eye disease.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 539 / 100
Quality score
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cohort studies. They sit above a single cohort study but below a single randomized trial, because the underlying evidence is still observational.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this means smoking is one of the biggest preventable causes of blindness in older adults, and quitting helps reduce but doesn't fully eliminate the risk.
- 2Smokers are 76% more likely to get geographic atrophy and 96% more likely to get neovascular AMD than non-smokers.
- 3Past smokers still have higher risk than never-smokers, but less than current smokers.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Annals of epidemiology
Year
2008
Authors
Rihong Cong, Bo Zhou, Qingmin Sun, Haijuan Gu, N. Tang, Bin Wang
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who smoke cigarettes have twice the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration due to oxidative damage and reduced blood flow to the retina.
People who smoke have a higher risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older adults, compared to those who do not smoke.
People who currently smoke cigarettes have a 76% higher risk of developing geographic atrophy, a form of age-related macular degeneration that causes irreversible vision loss, compared to people who do not smoke.
People who currently smoke cigarettes have a 96% higher rate of developing neovascular age-related macular degeneration than people who do not smoke, according to case-control studies; cohort studies show a smaller and statistically insignificant link.
People who currently smoke have a higher risk of age-related macular degeneration than people who used to smoke but have quit. Quitting smoking lowers the risk but does not remove it entirely.
People who have ever smoked have a higher risk of developing age-related macular degeneration compared to those who have never smoked, based on findings from multiple types of studies.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.