 |
|
Blindness from smoking terrifies teens, but few realize the two are linked
February 06, 2007Teenagers' perceptions of blindness related to smoking: A novel message to a vulnerable group
Teenagers fear blindness more than lung cancer or stroke, but nine out of 10 don't know that smoking can rob them of their sight in later life, reveals research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
The findings are based on the responses of 260 clubbers aged between 16 and 18, collected at four UK venues in Bournemouth, Winchester, Manchester and Southampton.
One in five of the young women were daily smokers (21%), compared with around one in seven (15%) of the young men.
The teens were asked if they knew about the link between smoking and certain diseases, such as stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and blindness.
Deafness, which is not caused by smoking, was also included, in a bid to balance out the responses.
They were then asked to rank their fears of each disease.
Awareness that smoking caused lung cancer was high, with 81% of respondents recognising the causal link. But the teenagers were not so well informed about the other health consequences of smoking.
Just over one in four (27%) realised smoking was linked to heart disease, and only 15% realised that smoking could also lead to stroke.
Just 5% correctly identified that smoking can also cause blindness, mostly as a result of age related macular degeneration, or AMD for short.
The figure was even lower among those who smoked, just 2% of whom recognised the link.
But teens were far more frightened of losing their sight than of any other smoking related disease, giving it an average score of 4, compared with 3 for lung cancer, and 2 for heart disease and stroke.
Nine out of 10 of the teens said they would give up at the first signs of blindness, prompting the authors to suggest that public health messages about smoking which are aimed at teens, should include the risks of blindness.
While the prevalence of smoking has fallen in the UK, rates among teenagers are still high, warn the authors.
BMJ Specialty Journals
One in five of the young women were daily smokers (21%), compared with around one in seven (15%) of the young men.
The teens were asked if they knew about the link between smoking and certain diseases, such as stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and blindness.
Deafness, which is not caused by smoking, was also included, in a bid to balance out the responses.
They were then asked to rank their fears of each disease.
Awareness that smoking caused lung cancer was high, with 81% of respondents recognising the causal link. But the teenagers were not so well informed about the other health consequences of smoking.
Just over one in four (27%) realised smoking was linked to heart disease, and only 15% realised that smoking could also lead to stroke.
Just 5% correctly identified that smoking can also cause blindness, mostly as a result of age related macular degeneration, or AMD for short.
The figure was even lower among those who smoked, just 2% of whom recognised the link.
But teens were far more frightened of losing their sight than of any other smoking related disease, giving it an average score of 4, compared with 3 for lung cancer, and 2 for heart disease and stroke.
Nine out of 10 of the teens said they would give up at the first signs of blindness, prompting the authors to suggest that public health messages about smoking which are aimed at teens, should include the risks of blindness.
While the prevalence of smoking has fallen in the UK, rates among teenagers are still high, warn the authors.
BMJ Specialty Journals
Blindness Current Events and Blindness News RSSResearchers engineer pancreatic cell transplants to evade immune response
In a finding that could significantly influence the way type 1 diabetes is treated, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a technique for transplanting insulin-producing pancreatic cells that causes only a minimal immune response in recipients.
Study of revlimid and vidaza in higher-risk MDS is well-tolerated and has high activity
Celgene International Sarl (NASDAQ: CELG) reported that results of a Phase I study presented today combining REVLIMID and VIDAZA in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) found that the combination of these two therapies is well tolerated and has high activity.
Studies examine quality of care for hospitalized sickle cell disease patients
A study assessing the quality of care for patients with sickle cell disease in a variety of hospital settings will be presented at a press conference on Saturday, December 6, at 9:30 a.m., during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.
Progression of retinal disease linked to cell starvation
Rods and cones coexist peacefully in healthy retinas. Both types of cells occupy the same layer of tissue and send signals when they detect light, which is the first step in vision.
Vaccine and drug research aimed at ticks and mosquitoes to prevent disease transmission
Most successful vaccines and drugs rely on protecting humans or animals by blocking certain bacteria from growing in their systems. But, a new theory actually hopes to take stopping infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and Malaria to the next level by disabling insects from transmitting these viruses.
New technique captures high-res images of full retina
Researchers used a new imaging technique to take high quality color photographs of the clinical stages of ocular inflammation in mice, and the technology could help in the monitoring and treatment of diseases of the eye that may cause blindness.
Drivers make more errors when talking on cell phone than to a passenger
Drivers make more mistakes when talking on a cell phone than when talking to passengers, new research shows.
Carnegie Mellon scientists offer explanation for 'face blindness'
For the first time, scientists have been able to map the disruption in neural circuitry of people suffering from congenital prosopagnosia, sometimes known as face blindness, and have been able to offer a biological explanation for this intriguing disorder.
Melatonin may save eyesight in inflammatory disease
Current research suggests that melatonin therapy may help treat uveitis, a common inflammatory eye disease. The related report by Sande et al., "Therapeutic Effect of Melatonin in Experimental Uveitis," appears in the December issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
Conference report highlights new research into drug delivery to treat eye disease
Researchers are investigating microneedles, nanoparticles and polymer carriers as potential new techniques to combat the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, according to a report from the Third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference.
More Blindness Current Events and Blindness News Articles
 | Blindness (Movie Tie-In) by Jose Saramago NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" that spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and assaulting women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of... |
 | Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad by Andrew C. McCarthy Andrew C. McCarthy takes readers back to the real beginning of the war on terror--not the atrocities of September 11, but the first bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993 when radical Islamists effectively declared war on the United States. From his perch as a government prosecutor of the blind sheik and other jihadists responsible for the bombing, Andrew McCarthy takes readers inside... |
 | Self-Esteem and Adjusting With Blindness: The Process of Responding to Life's Demands by Dean W. Tuttle, Naomi R. Tuttle |
 | Blindness by Saramago Jose A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and... |
 | Colour Blindness: Causes and Effects by Donald McIntyre |
 | Blindness (British Literature) by Henry Green Blinded in an accident on his way home from boarding school, John Haye must reevaluate his life and the possibilities for his future. His stepmother--worried that, blind and dependent, he'll spend the rest of his life with her--wants to marry him off to anyone who will take him, provided she's of the "right" social class. Contrary to her hopes, John falls in love with the daughter of the town... |
 | Inattentional Blindness by Arien Mack, Irvin Rock Many people believe that merely by opening their eyes, they see everything in their field of view. In Inattentional Blindness, Arien Mack and Irvin Rock make the radical claim that there is no conscious perception of the visual world without attention to it. The phenomenon of inattentional blindness has theoretical importance for cognitive psychologists studying perception, attention, and ... |
 | Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening by Stephen Kuusisto A memoir of blindness and listening rendered with a poet's delight by the author of the acclaimed Planet of the Blind.Blind people are not casual listeners. Blind since birth, Stephen Kuusisto recounts with a poet's sense of detail the surprise that comes when we are actively listening to our surroundings. There is an art to eavesdropping.Like Annie Dillard's An American Childhood or Dorothy... |
 | Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness by John M. Hull Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness -- a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of... |
 | THE BLINDNESS CURE: HOW TO RESTORE AWARENESS AND WHY YOU NEED TO by Carol E. McMahon PhD Introducing an improvement on meditation -- a power tool that sharpens with use and cuts through everything. The Feedback Method takes you to meditationÂ’s highest goals by harnessing attention. With it you hold on to attention the way you would grab a rope for a tow. Attention takes you straight to awareness. The reward of practice is a blindness cure. Your eyes open to beauty, your... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |