Don’t Let Diabetes Steal Your Hearing
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you are probably aware that uncontrolled blood sugar levels may put you at higher risk for a variety of health complications including high blood pressure, heart disease, and vision problems. But you may not know that hearing loss is also on that list of possible side effects from diabetes. A national survey revealed that 21 percent of diabetics surveyed also have hearing loss, compared to just 9 percent of people without diabetes. The reverse statistic is also true – people with hearing loss are more likely to have diabetes.
Now, a new study conducted by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit shows that having uncontrolled diabetes is a significant risk factor for hearing loss in women between the ages of 60 and 75. Women in this age group who did not have their blood sugar (glucose) under control had significantly worse hearing than women without diabetes. By comparison, women in the study whose diabetes is well controlled had hearing levels comparable to women of the same age who did not have diabetes.
Regardless of whether their diabetes was controlled, women younger than age 60 who have diabetes were also found to have significantly more hearing loss than women without diabetes. Men did not fall into these same categories of risk because they are already more likely to have more hearing loss than women at any age.
The study emphasized the importance of controlling blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Researcher Derek J. Handzo, D.O. said, “A certain degree of hearing loss is a normal part of the aging process for all of us, but is often accelerated in patients with diabetes, especially if blood glucose levels are not being controlled with medication and diet.”
Diabetes causes hearing loss because high levels of sugar in the blood damage the small blood vessels that feed the nerves and other structures in the ear that are necessary for hearing. This can lead to nerve damage that prevents the nerves from carrying sound impulses from the ear to the brain. Diabetics can also have less keratin in the ear canal, which can contribute to hearing loss. And diabetes can cause damage inside the inner ear by destroying hair (cilia) cells or by thickening the walls of the cochlea.
Although the recent study focused on older Americans with diabetes, other studies also show that diabetes can start causing hearing loss as early as age 30. If you have diabetes, you can help protect your hearing by keeping your blood sugar levels under control. People with diabetes can also benefit from regular exams to monitor their hearing. Treatments for hearing loss vary depending on the cause. The most common type of hearing loss caused by diabetes often cannot be reversed but can be treated with hearing aids.
Denise DeWitt is a freelance writer for EmpowHER.com
Sources
Henry Ford health System. Study: Diabetes Affects Hearing Loss, Especially in Women. Web. January 31, 2012.
henryford.com/body.cfm?id=46335&action=detail&ref=1515
American Diabetes Association. Diabetes and Hearing Loss. Web. January 31, 2012.
diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/seniors/hearing-loss/
About.com: Deafness. Diabetes and Hearing Loss. Jamie Berke. Web. January 31, 2012.
deafness.about.com/od/diseasesandsyndromes/a/diabetics.htm
NIH News. Hearing Loss Is Common in People with Diabetes. Web. January 31, 2012.
nih.gov/news/health/jun2008/niddk-16.htm
American Diabetes Association. Complications. Web. January 31, 2012.
diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/
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