This really interests me as someone close to me, I think, is slowing losing their hearing. This is a concern. The problem is, they don’t like fish! Looks like I will have to by cod liver oil supplements to help them out. Read on….

This Fat Can Actually Protect Against Hearing Loss

Increased intakes of omega-3 fats may reduce the risk of age-related hearing loss, says a new study.

High omega-3 intake was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) in people over the age of fifty.Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder in the U.S.

NutraIngredients reports:

“Other micronutrients have been linked to reducing the risk of age-related hearing loss. In 2007 scientists from Wageningen University reported that folic acid supplements delayed age-related hearing loss in the low frequency region …

Another study … indicated a role for beta carotene and vitamins C and E, and the mineral magnesium in preventing prevent both temporary and permanent hearing loss in guinea pigs and mice.”

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

According to statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), approximately 17 percent, or 36 million American adults suffer from some degree of hearing loss.

Over the age of 45, the prevalence rises to 18 percent. Thirty percent of seniors aged 65-74 years old, and 47 percent of Americans over the age of 75 report having a hearing impairment.

In this study, participants who regularly ate a minimum of two servings of fish per week had a 42 percent reduction in risk of age-related hearing loss, compared to those who ate less than one serving a week.

Although these results are preliminary, and more research is necessary to firmly establish the potential connection between omega-3 fats and hearing, it’s a plausible connection since omega-3 fats are so intricately tied to overall health and aging.

What Actually Causes Age-Related Hearing Loss?

Interestingly enough, although some cases of age-related hearing loss stem from mechanical dysfunction or ear-related issues, much of the problem is actually caused by faulty signaling in your brain, affecting how your brain processes information, which results in reduced hearing.

Your brain does an amazing job of sorting, filtering and making sense of all the information that flows through your senses, from colors and shapes seen, to textures and objects felt, to the range of sounds you hear.

It is this sorting and interpreting ability of your brain–not hearing itself–that diminishes with age. Furthermore, it’s your brain’s ability to provide proper feedback to your ear, by filtering out unwanted information that declines when you reach your 40s and 50s.

Without this “filtering system,” you’re more likely to be overcome by a mass of sound information that is difficult to sort out.

The good news, however, is that age-related hearing loss doesn’t have to happen just because you get older, and may even be retrievable if it does occur.

A Novel Treatment for Hearing Loss

According to Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, medical director of the Tahoma Clinic in Washington, certain cases of age-related hearing loss may be reversed by increasing a specific bioidentical hormone called aldosterone.

Aldosterone is a type of hormone that is essential to life because it regulates the amounts of electrolytes in your body. Secreted naturally by your adrenal cortex, it simultaneously regulates your sodium and potassium levels, helping to maintain both your blood pressure and bodily fluids.

If aldosterone levels in your body are out of sync, a variety of symptoms can result. Low levels of aldosterone have been indicated in diseases such as diabetes, for example. Your body is amazingly interconnected and being deficient in any nutrient, anti-oxidant, vitamin, mineral or hormone can lead to a whole host of physical dysfunctions, and this may be yet another perfect example of this.

In this case, it appears that low aldosterone levels may negatively affect your hearing.