title: [Is there a correlation between sudden deafness and smoking?].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The etiology of sudden hearing loss is not yet known. The most common mechanism of sudden hearing loss would appear to be impaired cochlear blood circulation. Tobacco smoking causes changes in hemostasis and raises the body's need for oxygen because of carbon monoxide, one component of the smoke which blocks a part of the hemoglobin.
  
  
  METHODS
  297 patients (76 smokers, 99 former smokers, and 122 non smokers) who were treated because of sudden hearing loss in the hospital in the last 5 years were queried about their smoking habits. We asked the patients to complete a questionnaire in order to get more reliable answers. We explored the kind of tobacco, the number of cigarettes or cigars per day, the age at onset of smoking, the number and rate of recurrence of sudden hearing loss, the result of the treatment of a former sudden hearing loss (if there was one), the characteristics of tinnitus, the possibility of stopping smoking, and the significance of tobacco smoking as reflected in health policy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tobacco smoking does not increase the overall risk of sudden hearing loss. The incidence of smokers in the population of the region and the incidence of smokers among patients with sudden hearing loss is equal. But the average age of the smoking patients is significantly lower than the average age of non smokers and former smokers. Smokers have a higher rate of recurrence of a sudden hearing loss. The result of treatment of former sudden hearing loss is worse in smoking patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no obvious relation between the risk of sudden hearing loss and tobacco smoking.
authors.affiliation: HNO-Klinik, Klinikum Schwerin.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linke
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Matschke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003051:Cochlea / Q000098:blood supply; D005260:Female; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
vernacular_title: Besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen Hörsturz und Tabakrauchen?