Studies have associated exposure to secondhand smoke prenatally or during childhood with various health conditions, from low birth weight and respiratory infections to behavioral problems and otitis media. Secondhand smoke may also have the potential to have an impact on auditory development, leading to sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL),

One reason this is personally interesting is that none of the other musicians with whom I’ve rocked out over the years have the degree of severity of hearing loss that I do, and I’ve naturally wondered why.  My dear mother, rest her soul, was a three pack a day smoker during my gestation and for the first years of my life.  Could this have had an impact on my hearing?  The article seems to indicate this may be a possibility.  Am I hoping I can abdicate some of the responsibility for ruining my ears?  You bet!  Especially if I can blame it on someone whose feelings can no longer be hurt!

Sorry readers, just trying to have a bit of fun and roll with life’s punches.

The article does not discuss reasons why SHS exposure might cause SNHL.  One possibility is decreased oxygen delivery to the developing fetus and young child, since nicotine is a vasoconstrictor (that is, it temporarily shrinks the diameter of blood vessels).  This might deprive developing tissues of other nutrients as well.  Another possibility relates to the “free radical” theory of hearing loss.  I’ll go into it more in a later post, but the basic idea is this.  It used to be thought that SNHL resulted from the chochlear nerve cell hairs being sheared off or blown down, much like trees in a wind storm, by loud sounds.  While that still may happen to a degree or in some cases, it’s now thought that most damage to the cells is from oxidizing free radicals released by the body as a response to loud noise exposure, and that the damage occurs not immediately, but in the hours and days following the exposure, as the free radicals graze on the nerve cells.  Employing this theory, the armed forces are are currently experimenting with anti-oxidant nutritional suppliments which, taken before or shortly after noise exposure (such as IED explosions), might be able to limit nerve cell damage and hearing loss in soldiers.  Cigarette smoke is packed with free radicals, so maybe exposure to these nerve cell munching chemicals during pregnancy and soon thereafter is causing long term hearing damage.  Of course, free radicals are none too kind to other body tissues, skin being the most visible example.  We all know someone with “smoker’s skin”, otherwise known as the “Keith Richards Syndrome”.

Did your mom smoke when she was pregnant with you?  I’m interested in knowing your story and further information you may have about this post or others, so please comment below.