Daily HealthBeat Tip - July 28, 2008

Hearing loss from diabetes

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Something else that can result from diabetes – reduced hearing. Researchers checked national survey data and compared results of hearing tests among people with and without diabetes.

They found that 28 percent of people with diabetes had hearing loss in the low- to mid-frequency sound range, and 68 percent had impairment in the high frequency range.

Kathleen Bainbridge, a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health:

``These are very high numbers – twice the numbers that we see when we look at people without diabetes – and because the occurrence of hearing impairment is so high among people with diabetes, it might make sense to offer hearing tests to people with diabetes.’’ (11 seconds)

People with diabetes benefit from a healthy diet, physical activity, and medicines that control blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol

The study was in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat was a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: July, 28 2008