If you still smoke industrial cigarettes in 2011, you clearly are signifying you just like life. But seriously, it’s your right to kill yourself, but please understand, your habit really is the only habit (death sentence) in world that keeps on giving — and mostly to the other people.

Researchers have now found conclusive evidence that links second hand smoke to hearing loss in adolescents. The study found that teenagers exposed regularly to cigarette smoke are twice as likely to have hearing loss as their peers who live in smoke-free environments.

According to Time Magazine, researchers also measured the subjects’ blood concentrations of cotinine — a byproduct of the neurotoxin nicotine that is often used as a biomarker of smoke exposure.

Not only were teens who had the highest level of cotinine more likely to have high- and low-frequency hearing loss, the degree of that impairment was proportional to the level of blood toxicity. In other words, the greater the smoke exposure, the greater the damage — which suggests that the rate of hearing loss could be cumulative.

Dr. Anil K Lalwani, lead author of the study and a professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, said:

“Prior work has shown an association between secondhand smoke and ear infection in children which can be associated with conductive hearing loss that is reversible. In adults, smoking has been associated with early hearing loss. I was concerned that secondhand smoke could similarly be injurious to children and cause injury to the inner ear leading to permanent sensorineural hearing loss.”

Much like most scientific experiments, it will take further research to exactly pinpoint the direct correlation between second hand smoke and hearing loss. But, common sense should make parents and smokers, in general, keep their smoke to themselves, preferably outside away from developing adolescents.

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