Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - And That’s A Bad Thing!

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB)
23 May 2005
Media release

RNZFB: Smoke gets in your eyes - and that’s a bad thing!

A popular song talked about smoke getting in your eyes, but it didn’t mention that smoking is a contributing factor of eye disease and possibly blindness.

"Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can build up in both the lens and the retina and damage the eye's delicate structure, eventually contributing to conditions like Age-related Macular Degeneration and cataracts, both of which can lead to blindness,” says Chris Inglis, RNZFB Divisional Manager, Blindness Awareness and Prevention.

ARMD is the leading cause of preventable blindness in New Zealand. Nearly 4,700 RNZFB members have ARMD and nearly 600 have cataracts. Both ARMD and cataracts can lead to total blindness.

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind supports World Smokefree Day, 31 May.

The RNZFB is New Zealand's primary service provider for blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people. New members are registering with the RNZFB at a rate of around 1,200 each year.

ENDS

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