Loss of hearing is something that we associate with old age. And while it is more likely that you’ll lose aspects of your hearing as you become elderly, hearing loss can affect anyone at any time. In the United States alone there are around 10 million people suffering from impairing noise-induced hearing loss. These can include troops returning from warfare to students listening to their music too loud.
The number of people with the problem is steadily rising, but there might be some good news that could reverse this worrying trend. Researchers from the University of Michigan Kresge Hearing Research Institute suggest that a combination of vitamins and the mineral magnesium has shown promise as a potential way to prevent hearing loss caused by loud noises. This combination of nutrients has already proved to be very successful in laboratory tests and the research team is hopeful that humans can benefit in the same way.
Of course it’s well known that the ideal way to avoid hearing loss is to prevent exposure to loud noises. Unfortunately due to working conditions, practicality and other factors it isn’t always possible. The concept of using medication to prevent hearing loss is a much newer idea and could hopefully lead to sufferers of hearing loss having a richer and fuller life.
The vitamins A, C and E were combined with magnesium and were given to guinea pigs in the form of a pill. The combination of the micronutrients blocks around 80 percent of the noise-induced hearing impairment. The researchers indicated that even if the results came to around 50 percent in humans, it would still indicate a very effective treatment against hearing loss.
It is only recently that we have discovered that medication can make any difference to noise-induced hearing loss. It was previously thought that the damage to the inner ear was the only factor.
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