Smoking, a harmful habit that can cause hearing loss

2023-05-24 23:00:40

• Tobacco addiction is one of the deadliest that exists because it causes 12,404 deaths per year in Mexico.
• As of January 15, 2023, the General Law for Tobacco Control in Mexico entered into force.
• The positive aspects of quitting smoking begin within 20 minutes of consuming the last cigarette.

Smoking has been associated with an increased risk of hearing loss from childhood to adulthood. Smokers have been shown to be at least 70% more likely to develop hearing loss over the years than non-smokers.

Correlation between smoking and hearing loss

In addition, there is a correlation between the number of cigarette packs a person smokes per year and the degree of hearing lossas this is believed to be due to the harmful effects of tobacco on the blood vessels and central nervous system which can damage the delicate mechanisms of the inner ear.

Also, if you work in a noisy environment and smoke, this could further increase your risk of hearing loss.

“Continuous exposure to loud noise and the combination with the harmful effects of smoking can multiply the risk on hearing. In a study carried out in Great Britain, among workers exposed to intense workplace noise, 18% of those who did not smoke had some degree of hearing loss, compared to 64% of those who smoked”, says Dr. Gonzalo Corvera. , Director of Mexican Institute of Otology and Neurotology SC (IMON).

There are other circumstances in which smoking has been linked to hearing loss. Some studies have found that secondhand smoke, that is, being exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke, can also increase the risk of hearing loss, so non-smokers are twice as likely to develop hearing loss if they live with a smoker.

It has also been observed that smokers are more likely to have middle ear problems such as ear infections which, in turn, can contribute to hearing loss.

This affects children more, so children who live in homes with smoking have more middle ear infections and more often require surgery to place ventilation tubes in their ears.

Also, by the time they reach adolescence, children who lived exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to develop hearing loss.

“Smoking during pregnancy is also harmful to hearing; It has been proven that the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy have a 3 times greater risk of presenting some degree of loss in adolescence. The loss can be progressive from birth, indicating that the damage caused by smoking during pregnancy manifests itself over the years.

In summary, tobacco smoking has been associated with an increased risk of age-related hearing loss. If you also work in a noisy environment, this could further aggravate the risk. This damage is not reversible, so you should take steps to protect your hearing, such as avoiding smoking and wearing hearing protectors in noisy environments.

Also read:

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