Smoking no longer only harms our respiratory system, our brain or our heart, but also our hearing. This is the conclusion of a recent Japanese study, published in the journal Nicotine &Tobacco Research published by Oxford University Press.
The research was carried out on a large panel of individuals, both smokers and non-smokers, and the results are clear. “Researchers found a 1.2 to 1.6 times increased risk of hearing loss for smokers compared to those who never smoked,” says Dr. Huanhuan Hu, chief scientist of the National Center for Global Health. and medicine in Japan and lead author of the study.
The researcher and his team studied the case of 50,195 Japanese employees, aged 20 to 64, none of whom suffered from a disability at the start. They made them fill out a questionnaire about their lifestyle and had them take hearing tests every year, over several years, up to eight years for some. And in addition to this 20 to 60% increase in the risk of hearing loss, the study also showed that the more you are a heavy smoker, the more your hearing weakens. Even if risk factors such as age, occupation, state of health (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overweight, etc.), lack of physical activity and listening to music at a high volume level have not not considered in the study, Dr. Huanhuan Hu says, "These results provide strong evidence to support that cigarette smoking is a causative factor in hearing loss and underscore the need for tobacco control. »
One surprising fact nevertheless emerged from this study. The risks appear to decrease within five years of quitting smoking, “even in women who quit smoking for a short period of time, such as during pregnancy,” note the authors of the research. It would therefore be possible to reverse the harmful effects of tobacco on hearing by stopping smoking...
Here's another reason to quit smoking!
