Smokers, regardless of gender, are at a greater risk for inner-ear cochlear damage, according to researchers who presented their findings this week at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) annual convention in Philadelphia.
According to ASHA member T.K. Parthasarathy and his co-presenters, this knowledge will help audiologists detect changes earlier in their smoking patients' inner-ear cochlear function. Presenters explained that regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked per day, nicotine seems to cause a reduction in blood supply to the cochlea, thereby affecting hearing.
