Smokers and passive smokers more likely to suffer hearing loss, study shows. Current smokers have a 15.1% higher odds of hearing loss than non-smokers.

Passive smoking also increased the likelihood of hearing loss by 28%.

But ex-smokers had a slightly reduced risk of going deaf — which may be because once they quit they adopt a more healthy life style overall.

Researchers looked at 164,770 UK adults aged 40 to 69 years of age who took hearing tests between 2007 and 2010 when they joined UK Biobank, a national project to improve health.

“We found the more packets you smoke per week and the longer you smoke, the greater the risk you will damage your hearing.”