What Can We Do About All This91when we were small children. In other words, most nutritional tastes are acquired. This is as true of sweets as of the alcoholic drinks we were introduced to somewhat later, in fact of most habits which contain an addictive element. There is, in addition, a psychological side of information relating to the above subjects. It is purveyed by hem�to s� And s�are frequently unfamiliar with the detailed reasons for the professional advice being proffered. It is, of course, incumbent on the hem�to be as lucid as may be possible. But some sort of barrier �sometimes a social one �needs overcoming, and that requires an effort. Another matter relates to the validity of the information on offer. Unlike lawyers, scientists and doctors can never offer any information that is final. As mentioned above, the information can be only the best available at any given time. Not so long ago dieticians advised against the hazards of potato consumption. Then, after new research, it turned out to be good for you. In other words, we are offered not the last word but the latest one. The above points need to be borne in mind in the following (non-prescriptive) pages. They contain some of the relevant information, at present available: it can be taken, or left alone.Smoking and the eyesAlthough the relation between mortality and eye diseases may not be obvious, when they lead to impaired vision they may also lead to accidents, which, as we learned earlier, may involve fatal complications. It seems to follow that controlling eye problems as far as this may possibly, in a sense, delay ageing. While the risk of developing lung cancer as a result of smoking is well known (Fig. 15.3), its influence on eyesight is universally unfamiliar. It constitutes a hazard in two parts of the eye, namely the lens and the retina (Fig. 9.1). The transparency of the lens is sometimes impaired in later years as a result of developing a cataract. The chance of this happening is increased by a factor of two or three as a result of smoking. Suggestions for the mechanism involved have been offered. For example, analysis has shown that cataractous lenses
