Type-2 Diabetes Can Damage Hearing, Study Says
A recently concluded medical research reveals that there is a high probability that type-2 diabetes and loss of hearing are directly linked. The evidence says that those who suffer from the autoimmune disease have greater risks of damaging their auditory systems.
Accordingly, the study recommends that clinicians must incorporate hearing testing and examinations as part of a comprehensive type-2 diabetes management. The result of the study was published in journal, Current Diabetes Reports, with the title "Type 2 Diabetes and Hearing Impairment.
According to Elizabeth Helzner, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health (SUNY Downstate Medical Center), several studies also showed the same findings, but admitted that not all results are in agreement. The most tangible impediment in coming up with a uniform finding is the fact that there exists no uniform definition of what hearing impairment is.
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Dr. Helzner also said that in those studies where the link is stronger, the respondents were mostly younger diabetes-2 patients. Obviously, it can be a lot more difficult to find correlation in older patients since hearing impairment comes with old age.
The study on the relationship between diabetes and hearing problems can be considered as a new field since there hasn't been any prominent or known research about it in the past. The use of longitudinal studies, according to Dr. Helzner, is essential in figuring out if patients that suffer from diabetes are actually at an increased risk of suffering from hearing impairment in an age when they're still not supposed to.
Today, hearing impairment is viewed as a highly prevalent condition. As a matter of fact, a little over 15% of adults in the U.S. are affected by it. In previous studies, problems in hearing have been proven to be linked to depression, decline in health, dementia, and social isolation and stress.
