Submission + - Second-Hand Smoke Increases Risk of Hearing Loss (suckhoenct.com)
suckhoenct writes: Researchers from the University of Miami and Florida International University suggest, in their study published in the journal Tobacco Control, that second-hand smoke can increase one’s risk of hearing loss. It’s known that active smoking can have effects on hearing because chemicals produced by cigarettes and absorbed in the blood stream can disrupt blood flow in the small vessels of the inner ear. But, this is the first time that an association between second-hand smoking and hearing loss has been found. By looking at hearing test results of 3,307 non-smoking volunteers – some who were ex-smokers and some who had never smoked in their lifetime – and measuring blood levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, the researchers found that passive smokers increased their risk of hearing loss across all sound frequencies by about a third.
