O cigarro como um fator de risco para alterações auditivas

Abstract

Smoki ng is a public health concern and we are still unsure of its relation with auditory problems. Aim: To study the effects of cigarette smoking in auditory thresholds, in otoacoustic emissions and in their inhibition by the efferent olivocochlear medial system. Materials and Methods: 144 adults from both genders, between 20 and 31 years of age, smoking and non-smoking individuals were submitted to conventional and high-frequency audiometry, transient stimuli otoacoustic emissions and suppression effect investigation. Results: smokers presented worse auditory thresholds in the frequencies of 12.500Hz in the right ear and 14,000 kHz in both ears. Regarding the otoacoustic emissions, smokers group presented a lower response level in the frequencies of 1,000Hz in both ears and 4,000Hz in the left ear. Among smokers there were more cases of cochlear dysfunction and tinnitus. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cigarette smoking has an adverse effect on the auditory system.

Tobacco Smoke Exposure during Childhood: Effect on Cochlear Physiology

“…Studies involving smoking and nonsmoking adults have demonstrated that the levels of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were significantly lower in the smokers [17,18,19,20,21,22]. Given the emerging evidence of a relationship between primary tobacco smoking and hearing loss it is reasonable to postulate that a similar association exists between passive smoking and hearing loss.…”

Relação da perda auditiva induzida por ruído e o uso de tabaco em trabalhadores de uma indústria alimentícia

“…Thus one can say that the statistical association found between smoking and hearing thresholds, plotted in Figures 2 and 3, was independent of age and duration of exposure. Another study conducted in Brazil in 2009 with smokers and non-smokers, found that the group of smokers had worse hearing thresholds at high frequencies (12500 and 14000Hz) and worst level of otoacoustic emissions in response to the frequency of 4 kHz in left ear, and a higher number of cases with cochlear dysfunction 10 . Some authors suggest the use of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions in order to identify minimal cochlear changes in individuals exposed to noise associated with other risk factors for hearing loss, preventing damage to the hearing system [19][20][21] .…”

Estudo comparativo das medidas de imitância acústicas em tabagistas e não tabagistas

“…Literature reports that regular smoking for more than a year is already enough to cause hearing damage 11 ; therefore, all participants in this study are potentially harmed, having a methodologically appropriate sample. However, it is also mentioned that the toxicity of cigarettes is directly proportional to its consumption 10 , showing that less expressive variables in the characteristics of smoking may prove to be interesting in future studies which investigate the smoking population .…”

“…Various diseases and chronic conditions are systematically associated with smoking and the dysfunctions of the auditory system are part of these diseases 9,10 . Based on the findings that over 4.720 toxic components are blended to tobacco nicotine, the ototoxic power of cigarettes has supported the hypothesis of the correlation between smoking and impairment of the inner ear, namely, vestibular, cochlear and retrocochlear…”