The underlying basis of noise-related hearing loss may seem well-founded. After all, the name itself suggests a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect relationship. Our basic understanding is that permanent hearing damage is caused by exposure to overly loud noise over a long period of time.
Though we’ve known this for some time now, we haven’t completely understood the inherent mechanisms behind it. But because of new research, we’re gaining a greater understanding of noise-induced hearing loss, and this includes the role of zinc intake after being exposed to loud noises. Hearing loss and zinc regulation have a significant link according to this research.
How is hearing impairment affected by zinc?
Zinc is a commonplace mineral. Most people have an abundance of zinc in their bodies, carrying out specific and necessary functions. Zinc helps your brain interpret chemical signals and is connected to immune system functions. In most cases, a person’s diet provides plenty of zinc.
The link between zinc and hearing loss might, at first sight, be difficult to recognize. After all, it’s not immediately obvious what role zinc plays in your hearing. A new experiment has started to expose what’s going on, however.
Researchers exposed mice to loud noises and conducted a few analyses afterward. When exposed to loud sounds, the same thing happens to mice as happens to humans: the delicate parts of the ear become damaged. For humans, sound will initially become impermanently muffled. This will become more serious and more permanent as chronic noise exposure continues. This damage can’t be cured in either humans or mice.
After taking some blood samples from the mice, some fascinating results in terms of free-floating zinc were revealed.
Does zinc help or cause hearing loss?
Because of this research, scientists now better understand how noise-related hearing loss symptoms happen. Typically, zinc in the body is molecularly bound. During the experiment, researchers noticed that zinc became free-floating after the ears were exposed to loud noises and sound-related stresses. It’s likely the same thing occurs in humans.
The free-floating zinc causes damage to delicate portions of the inner ear that are essential in order to hear clearly. Scientists are now thinking that this is one of the mechanisms that produces hearing damage due to noise exposure.
How to manage hearing loss
In the future, this kind of understanding might help scientists prevent noise-related hearing loss from ever occurring, even in those individuals who are frequently subjected to loud noises. However, it might be some time before those advancements become a viable reality. But that doesn’t mean your ears can’t be protected.
So, you may be asking: how can I prevent noise-induced hearing loss?
Here are several steps you can take to protect your hearing:
- Limit your exposure to loud sounds: Sporting events, concerts, and jet engines belong to this category. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that may be surprising, including things like a leaf blower, traffic, or people speaking loudly in a busy office.
- Wear ear protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears cope with loud environments that you can’t, or don’t want to avoid. If you attend that concert, for instance, wear a pair of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become permanently damaged as a result.
- Routinely check in with your hearing specialist: Discovering damage as early as possible can help minimize long-term damage, and coming in to see us for a regular hearing test is the best way to do that.
Safeguard your ears by understanding causes
Can noise-induced hearing loss be cured? Sadly no. Even though you can effectively treat this form of hearing loss and any associated tinnitus, it has no cure. Strategies developed to keep your hearing safe will be more successful the better you understand the mechanisms behind hearing loss.
This research is likely just the first step in a longer undertaking. But every bit helps. Your direct role is to get your hearing tested and use hearing protection.
