HEARING HEALTH UPDATE
Brought to you by Cayman Hearing Center
TODAY’S TOPIC: Warning — your hearing could go up in smoke!
Through decades of research, the medical and science communities have established a strong connection between smoking and a host of serious health issues, including lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Now the hearing healthcare community gives smokers another reason to quit: preserving the ability to hear.
One study showed that smokers are twice as likely to experience a mild sensorineural hearing loss (the most common type of hearing loss, often called “nerve deafness”) versus nonsmokers, according to an article published by AudiologyOnline. Furthermore, as the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the “pack years” of smoking increased, the risk of high-frequency hearing loss also increased.
The same article also cites evidence of a link between women who smoke during pregnancy and hearing loss in their children.
“As with many smoking-related diseases, the sooner people kick the habit, the more likely they are to conserve their current hearing ability,” says Dr. Annette Stephenson, Audiologist, Cayman Hearing Center. “For most people, whatever hearing they lose is gone forever.”
Besides quitting smoking, Stephenson urges local residents to contact a qualified hearing healthcare professional if they have a concern about their hearing. “While most hearing losses cannot be reversed, today’s advanced hearing aids can bring substantial improvements to a person
