It might seem as though the causes of noise-related hearing loss are functionally well-established. After all, the name itself suggests a fairly straightforward cause-and-effect relationship. The common understanding is simply that loud sounds damage the hearing mechanisms in the ear, leading to long-term and irreversible hearing loss.
And while that’s accurate, the mechanisms underpinning that cause have not always been so well established. That’s improving, thanks to emerging research into the role of zinc regulation after exposure to loud sounds. This research reveals that there’s an important connection between zinc and hearing loss.
How is hearing impairment impacted by zinc?
Zinc is a mineral needed for carrying out necessary bodily functions and the majority of individuals have plenty of it. Zinc helps your brain interpret chemical signals and is linked to immune system functions. With a few exceptions, the vast majority of individuals get enough zinc from their food every day.
The link between zinc and hearing loss might, at first glance, be difficult to identify. The connection between zinc and hearing isn’t, after all, instantly apparent. However, a unique experiment has shed some light on what’s happening.
Researchers exposed mice to loud sounds and performed a few analyses afterward. When exposed to loud sounds, the same thing happens to mice as happens to humans: the fragile parts of the ear are damaged. In humans, this may first be experienced as a temporary muffling of sound. As an individual is regularly exposed to loud noise, this damage will become more severe and lasting. This damage can’t be cured in either humans or mice.
After taking some blood samples from the mice, some intriguing results in terms of free-floating zinc were revealed.
Is hearing loss caused or helped by zinc?
Scientists now have a greater understanding of how the symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss happen because of this research. Usually, when zinc is in the body, it’s bound molecularly. Researchers detected zinc in free-floating form when the experiment’s mice were exposed to loud noise. It’s likely the same thing occurs in humans.
This zinc de-regulation ends up doing cellular damage to the inner ear, especially to the parts of the inner ear responsible for clear hearing. This is the mechanism that scientists now think results in the type of damage that causes noise-related hearing loss.
Managing hearing loss
As scientists gain a better understanding of this, they might be able to formulate novel ways to prevent hearing loss in people who are regularly exposed to loud noise. However, it may be some time before those developments become a viable reality. But that doesn’t mean your ears can’t be protected.
So, you might be asking: how can I prevent noise-related hearing loss?
Here are a few steps you can take to safeguard your hearing:
- Regulate 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 bustling office.
- Routinely check in with your hearing specialist: Discovering damage as early as possible can help decrease long-term damage, and coming in to see us for a regular hearing test is the best way to do that.
- Wear hearing protection: If there are loud settings you want to be in, or merely can’t avoid, ear plugs and ear muffs can help minimize the damage. If you go to that concert, for example, wear a set of ear plugs to ensure you can still hear, but that your ears don’t become permanently damaged as a result.
Understand the causes, safeguard your ears
Can you cure noise-related hearing loss? Unfortunately not. This kind of hearing loss and tinnitus cannot be cured, though it can be managed very effectively. Strategies created to keep your hearing safe will be more effective the better you understand the mechanisms behind hearing loss.
This research is most likely just the first step in a longer undertaking. But we seem to be getting closer to understanding. Your direct role is to get your hearing checked and use hearing protection.