Folate May Prevent Hearing Loss in Men

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that "men are more likely to experience hearing loss than women." That ties in with a new study concerning men and hearing loss that was conducted by a group of Boston researchers.

But first, according to the NIH, "Hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting older adults. Approximately 17%, or 36 million, of American adults say that they have some degree of hearing loss. Roughly one-third of Americans 65 to 74 years of age and 47% of those 75 and older have hearing loss."

The researchers found that increasing folate or folic acid intake helped protect men from developing hearing loss. See my first report below for more information. Study findings were presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.

New research presented at the recent meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology shows that men are 2.5 times more likely than women to experience noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

More than 5,000 subjects between the ages of 20 and 70 were included in the hearing analysis. Researchers couldn't explain why their results also showed that married, white men were more likely to experience hearing loss. (No, it's not from having to listen to your wives for too many years...)

But they estimate that about 24 million Americans suffer from NIHL.

Another study presented at the meeting shows that cruising in a convertible regularly exposes drivers and riders to decibels as high as 80. That's almost as high as a chainsaw. (Still, you'd be hard-pressed to get me to give up my ragtop.) And driving around with the top down still isn't as bad as going to a rock concert, where you'd be exposed to 150 decibels.

The result: What? Huh? Etc.

The bad news: NIHL is irreversible.

The good news: You can easily take steps to prevent NIHL.

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Easy as 1, 2, 3
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Step One: Earplugs

Riding in the convertible? Front row seats to see Springsteen? Doing yard work with a chainsaw? Put in the earplugs and you'll either help prevent NIHL or prevent further NIHL.

Step Two: Folic acid

In the e-Alert "Heard it Through the Grapevine" (2/12/07), I told you about a study that tested supplementation of 800 micrograms of folic acid daily. Over three years, subjects who received placebo instead of folic acid experienced significantly greater loss of low frequency hearing.

These results were confirmed in another study presented at the AAO meeting.

Using nutritional data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, researchers looked for a correlation between hearing loss and intake of folate, folic acid (the supplement form of folate), beta carotene, and vitamins C and E.

Results: Men over the age of 60 who reported the highest intake of folate and/or folic acid were significantly less likely to develop NIHL.

You can get more folate in your diet by eating spinach and other leafy green vegetables, asparagus, peas, beans, chickpeas, and liver.

Step Three: VincaHear

In an HSI Members Alert we sent you in November 2001, we told you about a supplement called VincaHear. This unique formula combines vitamins, minerals, and herbs that have been shown to promote better hearing. Ingredients include Ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine, niacin, vitamin D3, and magnesium.

VincaHear is available from life-enhancement.com.

Talk to your doctor before adding new supplements to your daily regimen. Hopefully, you'll still be able to hear what he says.