Contents:
- Medical Video: Surprising Link Discovered Between Hearing Loss And Anemia
- What is iron deficiency anemia?
- How can anemia be a cause of deafness and hearing loss?
- Types of hearing loss
- 1. Conductive hearing loss
- 2. Sensorineural hearing loss
- 3. Mixed hearing loss
- How do you keep your hearing healthy?
Medical Video: Surprising Link Discovered Between Hearing Loss And Anemia
A study published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery revealed that there was a relationship between anemia, especially iron-deficiency anemia, with cases of hearing loss. Even anemia can also be a cause of deafness. How can?
What is iron deficiency anemia?
The presence of iron in the body helps the process of producing hemoglobin in red blood cells. Hemoglobin is a part of the blood cell that is responsible for binding oxygen and carrying it to all body tissues. But there are conditions in which iron levels stored in the body are low, so it is not enough to be used to produce hemoglobin, and eventually the hemoglobin level in the body decreases. This condition is known as iron deficiency anemia, one of the most common types of blood deficiency.
How can anemia be a cause of deafness and hearing loss?
The study, conducted by Kathleen M. Schieffer of 300,000 adults aged between 21 and 90 years, found that someone with iron-deficiency anemia would be 1.8 times more susceptible to hearing loss with this type sensorineural hearing lossand 2.4 times more vulnerable to attack mixed hearing loss, compared with adults without iron deficiency anemia.
This hearing loss occurs because anemia caused by iron deficiency will increase the risk of damage to blood vessels and affect nerve cells in your ear, the myelin sheath. This sheath protects the body's main nervous system pathway, which also connects the ear to your brain.
With this condition, someone with iron-deficiency anemia will certainly have a potential for hearing loss, especially sensorineural hearing loss.
Types of hearing loss
Whereas according to an ear specialist, nose throat, Mahatma Sotya Bawono, hearing loss in the ear is divided into three types:
1. Conductive hearing loss
This type of hearing loss occurs in the outer and middle ear. So, patients who experience it, usually can still hear sounds, even in weak volumes. This type of hearing loss occurs because of a disturbance in the function of the auditory bone, which is often caused by mechanical disturbances, such as fluid that clogs the ear.
2. Sensorineural hearing loss
This type of hearing loss occurs due to a decrease in auditory nerve function that occurs in the deeper part of the ear. This decrease in auditory nerve function can occur due to several things such as genetic abnormalities, aging factors, iron deficiency anemia, and infections that occur during pregnancy, such as TORCH.
3. Mixed hearing loss
This type of hearing loss is a combination of both hearing, sensorineural and conductive disorders, in which hearing loss occurs together.
How do you keep your hearing healthy?
You can prevent the causes of deafness by anemia by avoiding your body's iron deficiency. You can do the following steps:
- Eating foods rich in iron. You can get these ingredients from iron-rich foods, such as rice, spinach, corn, wheat, soybeans, fish, liver, and beef or red meat.
- Eating foods rich in vitamin C, as a nutrient that helps the body digest iron. Can be found in foods such as oranges, kiwi, guava, papaya, jackfruit, melons, mangoes, broccoli, and tomatoes.
- Reducing food intake which can inhibit the body digesting iron, such as tea, pure milk, and egg yolks.
- Using ear plugs if you are in a noisy place.
- Do not use headphones with large volume until someone next to you can also hear it.
- Using earplugs when you enjoy a live musicThis step is believed to reduce noise exposure from 15 to 35 decibels.
