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.
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