From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-364667-742210
BETHESDA, Md. (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say hearing loss is twice as
common in diabetics and the researchers suggest adults with diabetes
have their hearing tested.
Senior author Catherine Cowie of the National Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Md., says the link
between diabetes and hearing loss was evident across all frequencies,
with a stronger association in the high frequency range.
Mild or greater hearing impairment of low- or mid-frequency sounds in
the worse ear was about 21 percent in 399 adults with diabetes
compared to about 9 percent in 4,741 adults without diabetes, Cowie
says.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, finds adults
with pre-diabetes -- having blood glucose higher than normal but not
high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes -- had a 30 percent higher
rate of hearing loss compared to those with normal blood sugar tested
after an overnight fast.
"Hearing loss may be an under-recognized complication of diabetes,"
Cowie said in a statement. "Our study found a strong and consistent
link between hearing impairment and diabetes using a number of
different outcomes."