Monitoring for Hearing Loss as Part of Diabetes Treatment

Are you one of the 37 million people in the United States who lives and attempts to manage diabetes? It is a lifelong disease which is very difficult to manage. However, it is important to stay on top of your diabetes health. Risks of living with unmanaged diabetes include risk to your eyes, feet, kidneys, cell health and more. In addition, new research is showing higher instances of hearing loss in patients with diabetes. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes than in people the same age without the disease.

Understanding the Effect of Diabetes on Your Hearing

There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Both types concern how your body can absorb blood sugar into its cells for energy. Type 1 diabetes is less common, usually found as an autoimmune disease in adolescents which prevents your pancreas from making insulin. Meanwhile, type 2 diabetes develops over time often based on dietary and lifestyle choices. The CDC explains that “If you have type 2 diabetes, cells don’t respond normally to insulin; this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes” Both types of diabetes can damage the blood vessels and nerves throughout the body including those of the inner ear. This can disrupt the nerve signals which send sound from the inner ear to the brain.

The Prevalence of Diabetes and Hearing Loss

So, what are the risks of hearing loss if you have diabetes? The CDC reports that it can double your chances! To better understand the connection a 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) analyzed the prevalence in US adults with type 2 diabetes and identified a 30% higher risk in patients with prediabetes in addition to and 50 percent risk of hearing loss.

Further evidence of the connection was found by researchers who analyzed combined data from 13 studies involving 20,104 participants. While the risk of type 2 diabetes goes up with age as does hearing loss, the researchers discovered that people with diabetes were more likely to have hearing loss than those without the disease, across age groups. 

Screening For Hearing Loss as Part of Diabetes Treatment

The rates of adults diagnosed with diabetes in the last 20 years have more than doubled and continue to rise. This means it is important to know what you can do to prevent diabetes and subsequently, hearing loss. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is in a danger range which puts you at risk for full diabetes. However, 96 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 80% don’t know they have it! Screening for prediabetes and diabetes throughout life can help prevent the many life-affecting symptoms of diabetes including hearing loss. 

How to Prevent the Risk of Diabetes and Hearing Loss

Anything that you can do now to lessen your risk of diabetes can help you stay healthier as you age, free of type 2 diabetes. This includes some of the following:

• Following a healthy eating plan: A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains while avoiding processed sugars and foods, can help you stay at a healthy blood sugar level.
• Get regular exercise: 30 minutes or more of cardiovascular exercise at least 3 times a week can help you stay at a healthy weight and manage blood sugar levels.
• Don’t smoke: Smoking constricts blood vessels and further damages cells affected by diabetes.
• Talk to your doctor: Talk to your health care provider to see whether there is anything else you can do to delay or to prevent type 2 diabetes including medications or lifestyle choices

Screen for Hearing Loss

One of the key factors in preventing hearing loss in association with diabetes is being proactive about addressing your diabetes. Still, we know that even prediabetes increases your risk of hearing loss. If you have recently been diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes then we recommend adding annual hearing screenings and examinations to your diabetes treatment. Even in the early stages of hearing loss, researchers have found that it can impact your ability to connect to the people in your life in personal and professional settings, impact your overall mood and increase your risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Be proactive about your hearing health by scheduling a hearing exam with us today.