Diabetes

Diabetes and Hearing Loss

Studies speculate that because diabetes is a disease which is known to damage vascular and nerve tissues, there is a definite possibility that the condition of diabetes affects hearing as well:

“Continuing research to define the nature of the connection between hearing loss and diabetes may show that specific tests for hearing loss should be included as part of a diabetic’s routine care. (In future), we may also learn more about how diabetes affects those with a pre-existing hearing loss.”

Some tests results show that “certain hearing structures may be damaged in diabetic patients even without, or before, the onset of hearing loss”.

Certainly, the connection between visual problems and diabetes is well known. We know that the hearing impaired person often uses visual clues to understand speech (often unknowingly), and if his vision is failing, this compounds problems. There is evidence that “alterations in the brain cells in some diabetics may also result in slower processing of complex sounds such as speech”.

And so, at the very least, diabetes and its related difficulties can cause the sufferer problems with hearing at a physical level, or possibly, at the level of comprehension and processing of sound and speech.

We encourage everyone to get regular, complete hearing evaluations done, and we offer the service of testing for free, for that reason. In the case of diabetes, it is obviously really important to be vigilant about testing and correcting any hearing problems as soon as they present themselves.