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 Researchers followed more than 80,000 women for 26 years and found
those whose diets scored highest for health and quality were up to
47 percent less likely to experience moderate or severe hearing loss
than women with the lowest dietary scores.
"Although hearing loss is thought to be an unavoidable companion to
aging, findings from our research have highlighted a number of
dietary factors that can be modified and may reduce the risk of
hearing loss," said lead author Dr. Sharon Curhan of the Channing
Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and
Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Some 48 million people in the U.S. have hearing loss, Curhan and her
colleagues write in The Journal of Nutrition. This loss can have
devastating effects by diminishing a person's ability to
communicate, which often leads to social isolation. Hearing loss has
also been tied to worsening work productivity and cognitive
function, as well as depression, the authors note.
Past studies have suggested that vitamins, minerals or fatty acids
might influence hearing health, the study team writes. But to see
whether overall dietary pattern makes a difference, Curhan's team
analyzed data on 81,800 women who were between the ages of 25 and 42
when they enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II in 1989.
The researchers focused on hearing assessments done in 2009 or 2013
and on dietary questionnaires the participants had completed every
two years during the study period. The women's diets were rated
according to how closely they matched each of three healthy-eating
criteria: the Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMED), the Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and the Alternative Healthy
Eating Index (AHEI).
All of these dietary guidelines provide a way of scoring diet
quality. All three award points for diets high in vegetables,
fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes and low in processed meats,
sugar and salt. The Mediterranean diet also emphasizes eating lots
of fish and olive oil, while the DASH diet focuses on keeping sodium
low and fiber intake high, the authors note.
Comparing women with the highest-scoring diets to those with the
lowest scores, the study team found that high scorers on the AMED
were 30 percent less likely to have moderate or severe hearing loss
by the end of the follow-up period and high scorers on DASH had 29
percent lower risk. The researchers didn't find a statistically
meaningful difference with adherence to the AHEI over the full study
period.
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But when they analyzed a smaller group of 33,102 women who had data
on medical conditions that could cause hearing loss, the importance
of all three diet scores increased: high scores on AMED came with 47
percent lower risk of hearing loss, a high DASH score carried 46
percent lower risk and a high AHEI score carried 29 percent lower
risk.
The researchers note that the information on both diet and hearing
loss was reported by the study participants, rather than measured
directly. The study was also not a controlled experiment designed to
prove whether or how diet might affect hearing.
The authors note, however, that there are many possible mechanisms
by which a healthy diet can be protective, including preserving
blood vessel health and reducing inflammation, and certain nutrients
might also directly protect auditory nerves.
"Having good, strong vascular health will keep blood flow to the
inner ear and reduce oxidative stress," said Dr. Christopher
Spancovich, an auditory specialist at the University of Mississippi
Medical Center in Jackson who was not involved in the study.
"And healthy diets rich in micronutrients help the ear defend itself
against exposure to free radicals protecting the inner ear," he told
Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
Dietary health is important for our auditory health, which requires
good blood flow to function normally, and foods contribute to this
blood flow - for better or for worse, he said. "How much of a role
does diet play? We're not sure just yet."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2klWOPR The Journal of Nutrition, online May
11, 2018.
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