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26/06/08 - Smoking and weight-gain linked to hearing loss - major new research |
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Smoking is a risk factor in the
development of age-related hearing loss, one of the largest ever
studies into risk factors for hearing loss has found.
The study - led by Professor Van
Camp at the University of Antwerp and funded by RNID, the
charity for deaf and hard of hearing people - found that
smoking, being over-weight and occupational noise are major risk
factors in developing the UK’s most common type of hearing loss.
The study found that people who smoke
regularly for more than one year had worse hearing than those who had
never smoked and that the more you smoke (number of years x number of
packs per day) the greater the severity of hearing loss.
As well as the effects of smoking and the research brings to light a correlation between being over-weight and decreased hearing ability and also confirms that exposure to noise contributes to hearing loss in later life - exposure to excessive noise is the major avoidable cause of permanent hearing loss worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.� Dr Mark Downs, RNID’s Executive Director of Technology and Enterprise says: "This exciting new research shows that you’re not just harming your heart and lungs when you have a cigarette - you could be putting your hearing at risk too. "With an ageing population age-related
hearing loss is something that we need to take seriously. Losing your
hearing in later life can make it harder to maintain contact with
friends and families and lead to isolation and/or depression - so making
small concessions now could have an enormous effect in the long term.� � � � � � � � � Copyright Scottish Disability Equality Forum 2003-2008 |
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