Jan. 26, 2012

By Patricia Nicholson

Women with diabetes – especially those with uncontrolled blood sugar – may be at risk for greater hearing loss compared to women without diabetes, new study results show.

Researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan compared hearing loss in people with and without diabetes. They found that women between the ages of 60 and 75 who had poorly controlled diabetes had significantly greater hearing loss than women in that age group who had no diabetes or well controlled diabetes. In younger women (under age 60), those with diabetes – regardless of whether their blood sugar was well controlled – had significantly greater hearing loss than women without diabetes.

The same link was not seen in men. The men in the study had worse hearing overall than the women, but their level of hearing loss did not appear to be affected by diabetes.

The researchers looked at hearing tests done at Henry Ford Hospital between 2000 and 2008. They subdivided the people with diabetes into those with well-controlled blood sugar and those with uncontrolled blood sugar, and also subdivided by age into people under 60 years and those between 60 and 75.

The researchers note that some degree of hearing loss is a normal part of aging. However, the significant link they found between uncontrolled diabetes and increased hearing loss is another reminder of the importance of keeping diabetes under control.

The study was presented at the Triological Society’s Combined Sections Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida on Jan. 26, 2012.