Cigarette Smoking and Hearing Loss

Abstract
HEARING LOSS is estimated to affect 30% to 35% of adults aged 65 to 75 years in the United States, yet little is known about the etiology of this disorder.1 Whereas hearing loss may be an inevitable consequence of aging, representing the cumulative damage from products of normal cellular metabolic processes, some studies of rural African tribes have failed to find a decline in hearing sensitivity with age.2,3 This may suggest that genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors play a role in the development of presbycusis, age-related hearing loss.