Smoking and the 5-Year Incidence of Age-Related Maculopathy

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Abstract
DURING THE past decade, findings from multiple population-based studies1-5 have demonstrated strong cross-sectional associations between smoking and age-related maculopathy (ARM). Consistently, the strongest associations have been found with current smoking. These studies have found either a weak association or no association with past smoking. Recently, a study6 that pooled data across populations from the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia provided strong and consistent cross-sectional evidence of a relationship between smoking and late ARM, also termed age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by the International AMD Epidemiological Study Group.7 This report indicated a 3-fold increased prevalence of AMD among current smokers.