Hearing loss affects about 10 million people in the US alone, from troops returning from war to students with music blasting through headphones. Now researchers at the University of Michigan Kresge Hearing Research Institute are hoping to address the growing problem with a cocktail of vitamins and the mineral magnesium. The nutrients were successful in laboratory tests, and now researchers are testing whether humans will benefit as well.
MP3 players are linked to a rise in hearing problems.
"When we can’t prevent noise-induced hearing loss through use of hearing protection, then we really need to come up with some way of protecting people who are still going to have noise exposure," says says Glenn E. Green, MD. "My hope is that this [combination] will give people a richer, fuller life."
In their animal study, the combination of vitamins A, C and E, plus magnesium blocked about 80% of the noise-induced hearing impairment. Now the formula is being tested in a set of four multinational human clinical trials: military trials in Sweden and Spain, an industrial trial in Spain, and a trial involving students at the University of Florida who listen to music at high volumes on their iPods and other PDAs.
"If we can even see 50% of the effectiveness in humans that we saw in our animal trials, we will have an effective treatment that will very significantly reduce noise-induced hearing impairment in humans.
Source: University of Michagan Health System, Nov 10, 2008