Smoking damages hearing

(Baonghean.vn) - Smoking affects blood flow to the ears, causing lack of oxygen and not being able to remove toxins, causing long-term hearing damage.

Passive smoking and inhalation of cigarette smoke cause sensorineural deafness in children. Photo: Internet

The latest study was conducted on 4,000 men and women aged 53 to 67. These people had their hearing, lifestyle and workplace tested.

Dr Erik Fransen at the University of Antwerp in Belgium said that the ability to perceive high-frequency sounds in smokers and obese people is significantly damaged: "Hearing loss is directly proportional to the level of smoking and body mass index. It gets worse when you smoke continuously for more than 1 year. In addition, unlike other parts of the body, once damaged, it cannot be reversed."

Smoking and obesity disrupt blood flow to the ears, causing a lack of oxygen, and also prevent toxic waste from being removed from the ears, thus damaging hearing, researchers say.

The anti-smoking group Action for Health said this should serve as a warning to young smokers: "Many young people think they will quit smoking when they get older and escape the associated diseases. But in some cases, the effects of smoking have already taken place and cannot be reversed."

A 2013 study found that passive smoking and secondhand smoke exposure caused mild sensorineural hearing loss in children ages 5 to 11. Sensorineural hearing loss involves damage to the lining of hair cells in the cochlea or damage to the auditory nerve. Unlike hearing loss related to the outer or middle ear, sensorineural hearing loss is severe and currently untreatable.

The numerous dangerous chemicals in cigarette smoke, including formaldehyde, benzene, arsenic, vinyl chloride, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide, can affect both conductive hearing (middle ear vibrations) and inner ear hearing by damaging the arrangements of hair cells in the cochlea. Hearing loss associated with smoking depends on the number of cigarettes smoked.

Thanh Son

(Synthetic)