New research suggests that smoking might hurt people in previously unknown ways — such as hearing loss. Current smokers have a 15.1% higher chance of hearing loss than non-smokers, a Manchester University study found, The Independent reported.
The more cigarettes smokers have, and the longer they smoke for, the greater risk to hearing, the study found.
“We are not sure if toxins in tobacco smoke affect hearing directly, or whether smoking-related cardiovascular disease causes micro-vascular changes that impact on hearing, or both,” said Piers Dawes, from the Centre for Human Communication and Deafness at The University of Manchester, which led the research. Passive smokers have an even greater risk of hearing loss than smokers — but that could be because they were only compared with non-smokers, researchers said.
