Hearing Loss And Diabetes - What You Should Know!

By Julia Hanf in Diabetes on February 2nd, 2008

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by Julia Hanf

One of the most notorious modern-day killers, diabetes is a disease which is deceptively innocuous in its development. What first begins as feelings of fatigue, dizziness and nausea, are quick to compound into a vast hoard of ailments, many of which can even be life-threatening if not diagnosed on time. High blood glucose levels are the mainstay of this disease, triggering its onset in the vulnerable, and also complicating it until diabetes leaves virtually no part of the body untouched. However, the most alarming aspect about these developments is that they, like diabetes, are surreptitious in their growth, often leaving the victim in the dark until they are at their mature, and most devastating, phases.

The high glucose levels, which form the crux of diabetes, also continue to plague the individual well after the disease has matured. The high sugar content of the blood hinders its circulation, by thickening the arteries of the body, while also causing tremendous amount of damage to the blood vessels. Over time, this damage begins to affect the nerves, leading to loss of sensation, which increases as the disease grows more flagrant.

The ear is undoubtedly the most severely affected by this diabetes-inspired nerve damage, given the fact that the vascular tissues play a major role in the process of hearing. When the glucose levels in the blood rise dangerously high, the damage that they cause is amplified by the narrowness of the capillaries of the inner ear, eventually leading to the destruction of the outer ear cells which magnify the sounds that the cochlea picks up. Diabetes also induces a significant amount of micro-vascular damage to the inner ear, which results in a gradual loss of hearing and even complete deafness.

Diagnosing this auditory damage is a challenging task in itself, as the cochlea is located within the temporal lobe. Thus, in order for this condition to be diagnosed, the individual needs to have himself surgically examined. Also, in order to determine the extent to which this condition has affected your neural pathways, your physician may want to examine your brainstem and cortex, which again would necessitate surgical intervention.

Diabetes brought-about hearing loss is also very hard to gauge, in spite of the fact that individual’s auditory functioning may be a lot lower than the clinically determined optimal levels. And thus, even while clinical tests may prove otherwise, the individual continues to suffer from auditory damage until the condition is exacerbated to its most severe, treating which proves to be a lot more difficult than curbing this condition at its nascent phase would be.

The auditory damage caused by diabetes also encompasses a deeper rooted stance where the functioning of the auditory nerve is affected, hindering the responsiveness of the brain to auditory signals relayed from the cochlea. And so, when an individual has to grapple with complex auditory patterns like speech, his brain finds it difficult to assimilate them, making communication an uphill and tedious process.

As of today, the most effective way to counter this auditory damage is to schedule a regular pattern of testing with your physician. This simple step will go a long way in allowing you to arrest any signs of hearing loss before it progresses to its more severe and even permanent stage. However, preventing this complication from arising at all is a lot easier and less stressful than waiting for this condition to arise before taking any curative steps. And hence, if you are still lax about keeping your blood glucose within the prescribed range, there’s no better time than right now to the diabetic principles of monitoring your dietary intake, exercise, medication and regular testing of your blood glucose. Assume responsibility of your diabetes today - it will go a long way in ascertaining a long, healthy and fulfilling life!

About the Author:

Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.