Diabetes and Hearing Impairment
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The association between Diabetes and Hearing loss has been controversial. According to a US study, Diabetics may be more prone than others to hearing loss in middle age. The discovery adds to a growing number of mental and neurological complications that can arise from diabetes1.
Recently, there has been a lot of interest in understanding how diabetes affects the auditory system and its role in contributing to hearing loss. Some of the current research is aimed at discovering the effects of a reduced blood supply going to all parts of the auditory system. It is believed that, over time, high blood glucose levels can damage the vessels in the cochlea and nerves, diminishing the ability to hear2,3. This is brought about by the presence of elevated blood sugar levels which induce chemical changes that impact the nervous system. As a result, the nervous system's ability to send normal sound signals to the brain is reduced4.
Amongst the various forms of hearing loss, presbycusis, i.e., the bilateral high frequency and sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type of hearing loss in patients with type 2 diabetes. Herein, the loss is permanent and usually progressive. Even, audiogram results from large populations of people with diabetes have shown that hearing loss can affect both low and high frequencies5.
Therefore, it is critical for the patient to take control of their diabetes. Just as there are routine yearly eye exams, patients with diabetes should undergo routine yearly hearing screenings/tests. Results should be sent to the rest of the patient's management team so care can be coordinated. In a research study conducted by Rianto et al, the authors stressed that there is direct relationship between duration of diabetes and hearing loss and that high frequency hearing loss is more prevalent in poorly controlled and complicated diabetes6. Not only does the diabetic patient has more problems in controlling the disease over time, but also in avoiding hearing loss, which gets accelerated, especially if blood sugar is not kept under control with prescription medicines, diet, and exercise.
Given that the individuals with diabetes are more likely to develop hearing loss, the audiologist should serve as an important member of the patient's management team. As part of taking an initial medical history, audiologists and speech-language pathologists should always ask new patients if they have diabetes or a family history of diabetes. The patient should also be counseled in the use of hearing protection during exposure to very loud noises. Because so many people are affected by the common disorders of hearing loss and diabetes, there should be greater public efforts about care and control of these conditions. Screenings or hearing tests are easily available but need to be well publicized. The end results of such efforts would be better health and a much-improved quality of life.
References
- Ren, J et al. Hearing impairment in type 2 diabetics and patients with early diabetic nephropathy. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. June 2018
- Rahne, Torstena; Plontke, Stefana; Keyßer, Gernotb Vasculitis and the ear: a literature review, Current Opinion in Rheumatology: January 2020 - Volume 32 - Issue 1 - p 47-52 doi: 10.1097/BOR.0000000000000665
- Yang, W., Li, X., Zhong, J. et al. Intratympanic versus intravenous corticosteroid treatment for sudden sensorineural hearing loss in diabetic patients: proposed study protocol for a prospective, randomized superiority trial. Trials 21, 135 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-4077-x
- Mauricio et al. Chronic Diabetes Complications: The Need to Move beyond Classical Concepts. Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. Volume 31, Issue 4, April 2020, Pages 287-295
- https://www.asha.org/articles/hearing-loss-and-diabetes/
- RIANTO, Bambang Udji Djoko; PURYANTO, Heri; SUDARMAN, Kartono. The relationship between duration suffering diabetes mellitus and hearing threshold based on audiometric examination. JKKI : Jurnal Kedokteran dan Kesehatan Indonesia, [S.l.], p. 43-49, apr. 2019. ISSN 2527-2950. Available at: https://journal.uii.ac.id/JKKI/article/view/11980. Date accessed: 02 aug. 2021. doi:https://doi.org/10.20885/JKKI.Vol10.Iss1.art7.
