Hearing Loss
and Diabetes
More than 38 million people in the United States have diabetes.
A recent study by the National Institutes of Health found that hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes as it is in those who don’t have diabetes. Also, for those who have prediabetes, the rate of hearing loss is 30% higher than in those with normal blood glucose levels.
Diabetes damages small blood vessels in your inner ear and your vestibular system, which is the part of your inner ear that helps with balance. It can make it harder for signals related to hearing and balance to get to your brain. Hearing loss is more common and can progress faster in people with diabetes. You are also more likely to fall if you have diabetes because of damage to your vestibular system as well as any other neuropathy you might have. Even without having the added risk factor of diabetes, untreated hearing loss actually triples your risk of falling.
What to do:
- Be proactive. You should be tested as soon as you are diagnosed with diabetes and annually after that.
- Take action. If your hearing test shows a loss, get help right away to avoid some of the other complications of untreated hearing loss like cognitive changes and depression.
- Wear your devices. If you were diagnosed with hearing loss, the best thing you can do is continually wear your devices. This helps support the brain, improve memory, and make you feel less fatigued at the end of the day.
