The annual campaign, led by Public Health England, is celebrating its tenth year

With smoking one of the lesser-known causes of macular degeneration, the optical profession is using Stoptober – the month dedicated to encouraging smokers to quit the habit for good – to push out a vital healthcare message.

The campaign, led by Public Health England, is celebrating its tenth year in 2022.

Its aim is to encourage smokers to quit for 28 days during October – something that statistically means they are five times more likely to quit in the long-term. An NHS app, NHS Quit Smoking, can help those who want to give up smoking do so more effectively. 

With Macular Society research showing that half of UK adults are unaware that smoking can cause blindness, the AOP is once again running its annual Stub it out campaign, sharing digital resources that can be downloaded and used by practices.

Optometrists can print off patient leaflets to hand over to those who need help to quit. Practices can also use the association’s social media resources to guide the content that they share during October.

Cathy Yelf, chief executive of the Macular Society, said: “Many people do not realise that smoking causes blindness. The message is often missing from anti-smoking messages, which simply concentrate on the life-threatening side effects of smoking.

“However, research consistently shows that smoking increases the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Current smokers are up to four times more likely to have AMD than people who have never smoked. But, if you smoke and you have certain genetic characteristics, your risk goes up enormously. You could be 20 times more likely to get macular disease if you have those certain genes and you smoke.”

Yelf added: “Smoking is incredibly bad for your eyes and the earlier we give up smoking the better. But it is never too late to stop and even if you already have AMD, it will progress faster if you continue to smoke.”

Optometry Wales is supporting Stoptober, with chief executive Sali Davis telling OT: “Optometry Wales will be working with Welsh Government this Stoptober to highlight the importance of public health campaigns and signposting to appropriate organisations to help raise awareness of the link between smoking and eye disease.”

Davis added that Optometry Wales will be working with the Welsh Government on its ‘Help Us, Help You’ public health agenda, and that bilingual messages will be shared throughout Stoptober in order that the campaign reaches as many people as possible.

In the long-term, she said that “as part of contract reform in Wales we will see more of an emphasis on ‘making every contact count’ when we see patients, so this kind of campaign awareness will become very much embedded in our clinical interactions.”

While Optometry Scotland has no specific campaigns around Stoptober this year, resources including information on local support services and developing a quitting plan are being shared on its social media channels.

Independent practices that are sharing the message of Stoptober include Valli Opticians, an independent group with practices across Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Emily Morris, student dispensing optician at Valli’s Cheadle Hulme practice, is planning to push Stoptober to the independent group’s followers on social media throughout the month, including sharing resources that are available to the public via Public Health England.

She wants to make it clear to patients how linked smoking is to eye health, including AMD, the development of cataracts, diabetic retinotopy, and dry eye, and how quitting can have a positive effect on these conditions, even if they already exist.

A local pharmacy is also running a significant campaign around Stoptober and Valli’s Cheadle Hulme practice will be referring patients there so they can benefit from the pharmacists’ expertise, she said.

Morris told OT: “As a former smoker myself and success story in being able to quit, it’s something that is personal to me.”

She added: “We’re a local independent optician, with our own communities at heart, so we want to support our local communities as best as we can through our local resources.

“Even though Stoptober is quite a big thing, I know it's something which can be encouraged through local support as well. We want to be a part of that. “We see first-hand how devastating eye conditions and sight loss can be to people’s lives, so being able to encourage change that would make it less likely is a very worthy cause.”

Meanwhile, Specsavers is also encouraging patients to give up smoking for October.

Giles Edmonds, Specsavers clinical services director, said: “Studies have shown that smoking can double your chances of developing cataracts, triple the chances of AMD, increase the risk of uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye) and double the risk of diabetes, which in turn could lead to diabetic retinopathy.”

Edmonds also emphasised the link between smoking and alcohol, noting that many people also choose to go ‘Go Sober for October,’ reducing their alcohol consumption – something that also benefits sight.

“Alcohol is a diuretic, and when you lose more fluid than you take in, your body becomes dehydrated,” Edmonds said. “Our eyes can become dry and irritated, and we can even start to get slightly blurred vision because there are not enough tears to lubricate the eye.”

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