HOME
Diet and Age Related Hearing Loss Information
Introduction
There are many conditions in Western industrialised societies today that were unheard of, or at least very rare, just a century ago. The same conditions are still unheard of in primitive peoples who do not have the 'benefits' of our knowledge. There is a very good reason for this: They eat what Nature intended; we don't. The diseases caused by our incorrect and unnatural diets are those featured on these pages.
Dietary causes:
High-carb diet — sugars and starches;Hydrogenated polyunsaturated vegetable margarines and cooking oils.
As we get older, our hearing tends to diminish. Generally we accept hearing loss as a natural part of the aging process, but it need not be.
Age related hearing loss, or presbycusis, as it is called, is the most common hearing problem in older people, occurring in about 25% of people ages 65-75 years of age and in 50% of those over 75 years. Despite increasing awareness of, and implementation of preventive measures against industrial noise exposure, deafness is increasing in our society.[1] Apart from aging, hearing loss is also associated with other degenerative conditions such as diabetes.[2] [3]
Dr Samuel Rosen and colleagues conducted a number of studies in the early and mid 1960's. They led him to the conclusion that 'diet was an important factor in the prevention of hearing loss'.[4] Since then, a wealth of evidence has been amassed which implicates hydrogenated vegetable oils and trans-fatty acids; the common mechanism of aging and degenerative disease in general, is now widely believed to be due, in whole or in large part, to free radical damage of such fatty acids.
Other research confirms that diabetes can cause hearing loss — and at a younger age. Dr. Hisaki Fukushima of the International Hearing Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota and colleagues examined temporal bones obtained at autopsy from patients with Type-1 diabetes, average age 37, and compared them with similar bones obtained from healthy people. Diabetics had significant damage to the inner ear. The researchers say 'The findings in our study suggest that the microangiopathy associated with diabetes affects the inner ear vasculature and causes degeneration of inner ear structures.'[5] Diabetes is a condition where blood sugars are high.
References
[1]. Cruickshanks KJ, Tweed TS, Wiley TL, et al. The 5-year incidence and progression of hearing loss. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2003; 129:1041-1046.
[2]. Kakarlapudi V, Sawyer R, Staecker H. The effect of diabetes on sensorineural hearing loss. Otol Neurotol 2003; 24: 382-386
[3]. Kashyap AS, Kashyap S. Increased prevalence of impaired hearing in patients with type 2 diabetes in western India. Postgraduate Med J 2000; 76: 38.
[4]. Rosen S, Olin P, Rosen H. Dietary prevention of hearing loss. Acta Otolaryngol, 1970; 70: 242-247
[5]. Fukushima H, Cureoglu S, Schachern PA, et al. Cochlear changes in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2005; 133: 100-106.
Related Articles
