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Can You Avoid Hearing Loss By Taking a Supplement?

By: Grace Brown

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Thanks to the work of scientists over a number of years there is evidence from lab animal results that a pill may be able to reduce the effects of loud noise to our hearing. Now the pill is about to be tested on humans. If all goes well, evidence will show that the new substance when dissolved in a drink can make a difference to the results of a hearing test.

This is just the latest research in an ongoing attempt to create a pill that can actually treat damage to a person's hearing from loud noise and protect people from this kind of damage in the future. Although this research has been going on for some time, even more effort has been made in recent years.

The pill however, is not a replacement for earplugs and other forms of ear protection. So far, standard protections have not managed to fully prevent the problem.

Federal government statistics show that hearing loss is a very common occupational hazard and the second highest reported form of occupational disease or injury. Sudden bursts or sound from things like explosions and long term exposure has meant that approximately 10 million Americans have to live with permanent hearing loss.

It is estimated that 30 million people are exposed to dangerous levels of noise from work including construction, mining, agriculture and manufacturing. Musicians must also be extremely careful not to damage their hearing.

The problem is not caused only in the workplace. Going to a race track to see a car or motorcycle race or going to the shooting range can also cause considerable damage to your hearing. The protection that ear plugs and sound deadening earphones that are worn is good but there needs to be more.

Some forms of sound still manage to penetrate the current protection available. Some people are more prone to hearing damage and despite knowing this, do not wear the protection at all. The skull itself can be penetrated by some levels of sound causing hearing damage even if the protection is worn.

There have been different approaches to the task of creating a hearing protecting pill in the past. Thanks to magnesium supplements in their diet it was reported that in 1994 Israeli military recruits were able to avoid any hearing loss during their noisy basic training. A lot of the focus in research today is on the use of antioxidants.

Scientists discovered that not all damage to our ears is directly caused by the force of loud noises. A lot of the damage to a person's ears is actually due to the ear producing chemicals known as free radicals that the inner ear produces after being exposed to loud noise.

Free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants naturally present in the ear. However, too much noise means that there are not enough antioxidants present. The hair like receptor cells in the ear can die due to too much damage from free radicals and they can no longer convert sound into nerve impulses. Once dead these cells cannot grow back so the hearing loss is permanent.

Damage that has just occurred could be treated by increasing the antioxidants used in the ear's natural defense mechanism, or it could be part of a preventative measure. From the animal experiments that have taken place this method shows promising results in preventing lasting hearing loss. When it comes to the effectiveness of the antioxidants on humans, some experts remain cautious. Although the antioxidant method looks promising, more tests on animals are required to see the effect different noise levels and the size of antioxidant doses to discover whether the method will be effective on humans.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

To get a closer look on sudden hearing loss visit this site. You can get resources on hearing health by visiting this site.

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