Study Proposes That Secondhand Smoke Causes Hearing Loss. True? Probably Not.

Oddly enough, besides lungs, it seems that smoke gets in your ears.  A large study by Zausmer Foundation and NYU indicated that teens exposed to secondhand smoke tend to experience an associated hearing loss.

Apparently exposed adolescents are nearly twice as likely to experience low-frequency hearing loss than those who had no exposure to smoke, according to Dr. Anil K. Lalwani and colleagues from New York University in New York City.  The highest risk for general hearing loss, a near three-fold increase, was in those with the largest levels of exposure as determined by serum cotinine levels.

The list of potentially harmful outcomes associated with exposure to secondhand smoke continues to grow, from low birth weight to behavioral and cognitive problems and respiratory tract infections -- and more than half of U.S. children are exposed.

Of course there are limitations to the study, including its use of cross-sectional data which doesn't allow assignment of causation, lack of information on duration and sources of secondhand smoke exposure -- including prenatal exposure -- and absence of data on other factors such as exposure to loud noises.  The study only provides a correlation between smoke and auditory damages. 

Translation: teens who are around smoke are probably around loud music more often than teens who are rarely exposed to smoke.  The third variable here could easily be rock concerts, or something similar.  There is no need to conclude that smoke literally hurts your ears!

The researchers concluded, "Future studies need to investigate the adverse consequences of this early hearing loss on social development, academic performance, behavioral and cognitive function, and public health costs."

Original source: ABC News