Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found that people with diagnosed hearing loss had folic acid levels that were 32% lower than patients with normal hearing.
Presbycusis, also known as age-related hearing loss, occurs in most individuals as they grow older. The Deafness Research Foundation states that 30-35 percent of adults between the ages of 65 and 75 years and 40-50 percent of people 75 and older have presbycusis (1), with an estimated total of 28 million Americans suffering from Presbycusis (2).
Now a new study (3) has found that folic acid may help auditory health. In the study, 126 patients in a community outreach program between the ages of 60 and 98 provided blood samples, underwent eye, ear, nose, and throat examinations, completed a series of computerized auditory tests and answered questions regarding lifestyle and prescription drug history. They also reported on any history of living near noise, as in, for example, a blacksmith shop, radio room/disco room, or welding shop for at least two hours per day for at least five days a week.
The researchers found that those with diagnosed hearing loss across standard frequencies (250 Hz to 2000 Hz) had folic acid levels that were 32% lower than patients with normal hearing (279.1 vs. 412.3 nanomoles/Liter). When they looked at the high frequency tests (greater than 3000 Hz), those with diagnosed hearing loss had folic acid levels that were 35% lower than those with normal hearing at high frequencies (279.14 vs. 426.3 nmol/L).
When suggesting a mechanism for how a folic acid deficiency could produce hearing loss, the researchers pointed to studies showing low levels of folic acid to be related to the destruction of inner ear muscles (4) “which might result in hearing impairment” (5,6,7). They went on to conclude that folic acid blood levels were “significantly lower among elderly people with age-related hearing loss” and that “trials on nutritional supplementation may substantiate the role of serum folate in age-related hearing loss”.
Source: Lasisi, Akeem Olawale, Fatai A. Fehintola, and Oyindamola Bidemi Yusuf. “Age-related hearing loss, vitamin B12, and folate in the elderly.” Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery 143.6 (2010): 826-830.
© 2017 by Official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
Posted December 16, 2010.
References:
- “Presbycusis” posted on The Hearing Health Foundation website.
- “Understanding Presbycusis” posted on The Lighthouse International website.
- Olawale A. Age-related hearing loss, vitamin B12, and folate in the elderly. Otolaryngology 2010; 143(6): 826-830
- “Stria Vascularis” – posted on the Wikipedia website.
- P.S. Buckmaster, T.A. Holliday and S.C. Bai et al., Brainstem auditory evoked potential interwave intervals are prolonged in vitamin-B-6-deficient cats, J Nutr 1993: 23: 20–26.
- M.A. Gratton and B.A. Schulte, Alterations in microvasculature are associated with atrophy of the stria vascularis in quiet-aged gerbils, Hear Res 1995: 82: 44–52.
- Gratton MA. Age-related decreases in endocochlear potential are associated with vascular abnormalities in the stria vascularis, Hear Res 1996; 102: 181–190
