Hearing loss can happen so gradually that most of us don’t notice we have a problem until we’re struggling to understand friends at restaurants. Or worse, we realize it because our spouses get angry that we’re constantly asking, “What? Pardon? Can you repeat that?”
1: Take Advantage of This Brain Nutrient?
2: Low-Tech Exercises That Improve Hearing Comprehension
3: Hearing Concentration Exercises to Do When You’re Alone
4: Vitamins and Supplements to Improve Hearing
5: Quit Smoking (and Tell Your Partner to Quit Smoking Too)
A JAMA study showed that smoking increases your chances of hearing loss by 1.69 times. According to the study, nicotine consumption also leads to tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and second-hand smoke from your partner can cause hearing loss in you, even if you’ve never smoked a cigarette in your life!
Here are the most important findings from the study:
After adjusting for other factors, current smokers were 1.69 times as likely to have hearing loss as nonsmokers (95% confidence interval, 1.31-2.17). This relationship remained for those without a history of occupational noise exposure and in analyses excluding those with non–age-related hearing loss. There was weak evidence of a dose-response effect. Nonsmoking participants who lived with a smoker were more likely to have hearing loss than those who were not exposed to a household member who smoked (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.74).
Why does smoking cause hearing loss? Doctors believe that nicotine and carbon monoxide from smoking restricts blood flow to the ears, which causes the degradation of inner ear cells. They also suspect that smoking interrupts the neurotransmitters that deliver messages from the hearing nerve to the brain, and this can disrupt speech-language comprehension.
- Quietum Plus Official Website Link
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110112122504.htm
- https://hearinginstitute.ca/we-dont-hear-with-our-ears-we-hear-with-our-brain/
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-hearing-brain-training/brain-training-games-may-help-older-adults-with-hearing-loss-idUSKBN1D22OZ
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3459459/