Cigarette Smoking and Hearing Loss

Abstract

Context.-Clinical studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may be associated with hearing loss, a common condition affecting older adults.Objective.-To evaluate the association between smoking and hearing loss.Design.-Population-based, cross-sectional study.Setting.-Community of Beaver Dam, Wis.Participants.-Adults aged 48 to 92 years. Of 4541 eligible subjects, 3753 (83%) participated in the hearing study.Main Outcome Measures.-The examination included otoscopy, screening tympanometry, and pure-tone air-conduction and bone-conduction audiometry. Smoking history was ascertained by self-report. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) greater than 25-dB hearing level in the worse ear.Results.-After adjusting for other factors, current smokers were 1.69 times as likely to have a 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 a 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).Conclusions.-These data suggest that environmental exposures may play a role in age-related hearing loss. If longitudinal studies confirm these findings, modification of smoking habits may prevent or delay age-related declines in hearing sensitivity.

Drusen, choroidal neovascularization, and retinal pigment epithelium dysfunction in SOD1-deficient mice: A model of age-related macular degeneration

“…However, according to the most recent review (15), only the Ccl2 Ϫ/Ϫ , Ccr2 Ϫ/Ϫ , and Sod1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice have the characteristics of both drusen and CNV. Moreover, drusen can be induced by photooxidative stress in Sod1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice, which seems to be compatible with the clinical finding that subjects with a longer duration of sunlight exposure are more susceptible to soft drusen (30). Because retinal degeneration after constant light exposure was similar in the wild-type and Sod1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice (data not shown), the accumulation of drusen seems to be due to the increased oxidative stress to the RPE rather than to the photoreceptors.…”

“…Indirect evidence that oxidative damage is associated with AMD comes from epidemiological studies showing that smoking and sunlight exposure significantly increase the risk of AMD (30)(31)(32). In addition, supplementation with antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E, ␤-carotene, copper, and zinc can slow the progression of the disease (39).…”

“…Because exposure to light (30,31) and smoking (32) have been reported in epidemiological studies to be risk factors for AMD in humans, we attempted to induce drusen in young Sod1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice by light exposure. Young Sod1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice (age, 5 months) have normal retinal architecture and do not have any drusen.…”

Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Gangguan Pendengaran Sensorineural Pekerja Perusahaan Minyak

“…Nakanishi et all, 9 mengemukakan suatu insufisiensi sirkulasi darah pada organ koklea merupakan penyebab utama gangguan pendengaran pada frekuensi tinggi. Sedangkan penelitian lain dengan metode penelitian potong melintang dari Cruickshanks et all, 10 menemukan adanya hubungan antara merokok dengan gangguan pendengaran (berisiko 1,69 mendapatkan gangguan pendengaran pada perokok).…”

Photoprotection of human retinal pigment epithelium cells against blue light-induced apoptosis by melanin free radicals from Sepia officinalis

“…RPE cells are nonregenerative and must last a lifetime to maintain sight (1,(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). An accumulation of light-induced damage within RPE cells is believed to participate in RPE loss in the retina (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”