According to new research conducted among middle-aged and elderly people at University of Wisconsin Medical School, smokers are nearly 1.7 times more likely to develop hearing loss than nonsmokers. This finding lends credence to the notion that hearing loss is more preventable than inevitable as we get older. According to the study of 3,753 people between ages 48 and 92, the chances of developing hearing loss increased the more a person smoked. Those who smoked one pack daily for 40 years were 1.3 times as likely to have hearing losses as those who smoked a pack a day for a decade. This study shows that there is, yet again, great benefit to be derived from quitting the smoking habit.

It's not as if there already weren't many, many reasons to quit or never start, the smoking habit - and now we know about its effect on hearing. When it's time to take action against hearing loss, whatever its cause, see the people who can do the best job for you.

P.S. Protecting the ears from loud noise is another lifestyle prescription for preserving hearing.