21 Mar Diabetes and hearing loss: what you should know about it

Estimates by the German Association for the Hard of Hearing (DSB), 19 % of the German population over the age of 14 are hearing impaired. There are various explanations for this rate: On the one hand, it is often the natural ageing process that goes hand in hand with hearing loss.

Secondly, young people often unconsciously damage their hearing by listening to music that is too loud. Did you know that your blood sugar levels can affect your hearing? For example, low blood sugar levels can damage the nerves in your ear canal in the long term. Diabetes mellitus is also a risk factor for hearing loss. Hearing problems can be a typical consequence of diabetes.

Profile: Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic disease. The main symptom is hyperglycaemia in the blood, which is caused by a lack of insulin or insulin resistance in the body. There are 2 types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 often develops in childhood or adolescence. This is due to the pancreas, which produces less and less insulin and eventually none at all. As a result, there is a deficiency of this hormone in the body. As a result, the blood sugar level rises and those affected have to inject themselves with insulin.

Type 2 diabetes

Although this is colloquially referred to as "adult-onset diabetes", more and more young people are also developing this form of diabetes. In this case, the pancreas works normally and secretes sufficient insulin. However, the body cells that need insulin to absorb sugar from the blood are resistant to it. As a result, the blood sugar level rises. Special medication helps to regulate the blood sugar.

Profile: Hearing loss

Hearing loss means that the ability to perceive sounds is (greatly) reduced. At the same time, difficulties in understanding speech can also occur - especially with a lot of or loud background noise.

There are different types of hearing loss:

Conductive hearing loss

When sound is prevented from reaching the sensory structures of the inner ear, conductive hearing loss occurs. The problem can spread to the external auditory canal, the eardrum and the middle ear.

Sensorineural hearing loss

The sound reaches the inner ear but is not converted into nerve impulses (sensory loss). It is also possible that the nerve impulses cannot be transmitted to the brain (neuronal loss).

Mixed form

It is also possible that conductive and sensorineural hearing loss are present at the same time.

Diabetes and hearing loss: what is the connection?

People who have diabetes are more than twice as likely to suffer hearing loss than healthy people who are not affected by diabetes. Nevertheless, hearing loss is often not considered to be a consequence of diabetes - and is therefore often not diagnosed. Diabetes can also have an impact on the performance of the ears. Especially in the high-frequency range (important for clearly understanding speech), this can lead to limitations. Furthermore, many diabetics react more sensitively to noise and the ears regenerate more slowly after acoustic trauma.

But how can this happen? The crux lies in the cochlea. It is a spiral-shaped component of the inner ear. The cochlea converts sound waves into nerve impulses. Diabetes can lead to a thickening of the blood vessel walls and thus hinder the cochlea in its work. This is considered to be the cause of hearing loss in diabetes. In addition, diabetes can favour the development of a so-called cochleopathy. This is damage to the inner ear which means that sound waves can no longer be converted into nerve impulses.

Diabetes and hearing loss: what to do?

If you notice that something is changing in your hearing and you are hearing and understanding less and less, please make an appointment at our ENT clinic in Frankfurt. This does not only apply if you have diabetes.

Hearing loss can have various causes. If it remains untreated, it harbours risks such as speech disorders, headaches, fatigue or dizziness. Untreated hearing loss can even lead to complete deafness in the short or long term.

For this reason, we recommend that you have your hearing checked (regularly if you have diabetes). In our Goethe10 Practice Clinic in Frankfurt we offer different types of Hearing tests are offered. This includes tonal audiometry (hearing threshold test), impedance measurement to measure the ventilation status of the middle ear, the auditory nerve function test BERA and the hair cell function test DPOAE. In addition, we also offer the ENTEndoscopy available.

Based on the results of the examination, we will determine your individual therapy together with you.

Simply contact us to arrange an appointment!

ENT Frankfurt: Dr Thomas Fischer & Dr Albrecht Linke

Your specialists for ear, nose and throat medicine, who will provide you with professional and individualised advice, examinations and treatment in all matters relating to ENT medicine, functional plastic surgery and the aesthetic treatment of changes to the facial skin.

Our news articles are prepared for you to the best of our knowledge and belief and are intended for general education. They are in no way a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis and treatment and are not intended to encourage self-diagnosis or self-treatment. Please always contact your ENT specialist in Frankfurt directly if you have any health complaints!

Tags:

Diabetes, Diabetes mellitus, sudden hearing loss. Tinnitus, Hearing loss, Hearing loss