It may seem as if the roots of noise-related hearing loss are functionally well-recognized. After all, the name itself conveys a fairly direct cause-and-effect relationship. Our fundamental understanding is that permanent hearing damage is caused by exposure to overly loud sound over a long period of time.
And while that’s accurate, the mechanisms behind that cause have not always been so well understood. That’s changing, thanks to new research into the role of zinc management after exposure to loud sounds. This research reveals that there’s an important link between zinc and hearing loss.
What is zinc? And how does it impact hearing loss?
Zinc is a mineral required for carrying out necessary bodily functions and the majority of people have an abundance of it. Zinc helps your brain translate chemical signals and is connected to immune system functions. In most instances, a person’s diet provides plenty of zinc.
The link between zinc and hearing loss might, at first sight, be difficult to identify. 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 engaged in some analysis on mice that were exposed to loud noise. When exposed to loud sounds, the same thing happens to mice as happens to humans: the fragile parts of the ear become damaged. In humans, this might first be experienced as a temporary muffling of sound. As an individual is continually exposed to loud sound, this damage will become more serious and lasting. 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?
Scientists now have a better understanding of how the symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss occur because of these results. Normally, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form after the experiment’s mice were exposed to loud noise. Zinc most likely responds the same way in humans.
This zinc de-regulation winds up causing cellular damage to the inner ear, especially to the parts of the inner ear in control of clear hearing. This is the mechanism that scientists now think leads to the type of damage that causes noise-induced hearing loss.
Treating hearing loss
In the future, this sort of understanding may help scientists stop noise-related hearing loss from ever occurring, even in those people who are frequently exposed to loud noises. However, it might be some time before those developments become a viable reality. But that doesn’t mean your ears are defenseless.
So, how can you protect yourself from noise-related hearing loss?
Here are several steps you can take to safeguard your hearing:
- Wear hearing protection: Ear muffs and ear plugs can help your ears cope with noisy environments that you can’t, or don’t want to stay away from. If you attend that concert, for example, use a pair of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become irreversibly damaged as a result.
- Consistently check in with your hearing specialist: Discovering damage as early as possible can help reduce long-term damage, and coming in to see us for a regular hearing test is the best way to do that.
- Regulate your exposure to loud noises: This obviously includes noises such as jet engines, concerts, or sporting events. But there are some more commonplace noises that can cause hearing loss that might be surprising, including things like a leaf blower, traffic, or individuals speaking loudly in a bustling office.
Protect your ears by understanding causes
Can noise-induced hearing loss be cured? Unfortunately not. Though you can successfully treat this form of hearing loss and any related tinnitus, it can’t be cured. Better understanding the causes of hearing loss and the mechanisms by which hearing loss works can help hearing specialists (and you) develop better strategies and treatments designed to keep your hearing safe.
Even though this research is promising, we still have a ways to go. But we appear to be getting closer to understanding. On an individual level, it’s crucial to take steps to safeguard your hearing and check in with your hearing specialist.