Drinking Caffeine Can Worsen Noise-Related Hearing Loss

First Posted: Jul 09, 2016 05:03 AM EDT
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Coffee has been known as one of the most popular drinks in the world today. However, a new study may give people quite a scare. The study revealed that drinking caffeine can significantly affect the body's ability to recover from hearing damage.

According to Digital Music News, the study suggested that caffeine can seriously affect the body's ability to get better from temporary hearing loss after extremely loud events. Furthermore, it was found that caffeine can contribute to longer-term, permanent damage that would originally be repaired.

The finding of the study conducted by the Research Institute at the McGill University Health Centre was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For the study, experts used guinea pigs, but researchers said they have plans to widen their testing involving people in the future, so the findings will be confirmed by human results.

"When the ear is exposed to loud noise, it can suffer from a temporary hearing reduction, also called auditory temporary threshold shift," Dr. Faisal Zawawi, an otolaryngologist at McGill, said in a press release. "This disorder is usually reversible in the first 72 hours after the exposure, but if symptoms persist, the damage could become permanent."

Meanwhile, Zawawi and his colleagues wanted to see if the amount of coffee consumed will have an effect on hearing recovery based on the number of coffee consumption and noise-related hearing loss, Medical Daily reported.

For the 15-day experiment, researchers divided 24 guinea pigs into three groups and exposed them in different environment. One group was exposed to caffeine; the other was exposed to noise or "acoustic overstimulation"; and the last group was exposed to both caffeine and overstimulation on the first and eighth day of the trails.

Results show that guinea pigs that had been exposed to caffeine and loud sounds at the same time had a much slower recovery than that group who were only exposed to "acoustic overstimulation." An article for Elite Daily also said that aside from having a much slower recovery time, these guinea pigs also experienced hearing loss after day 15.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) said that about 15 percent of Americans between ages 20 and 69 have hearing loss that may have been caused by exposure to noise at work or just on a regular day off. And since it's a gradual decline, an individual may not notice it at first.

Louder noises, like gunshots and explosions, can rupture the eardrum or damage the bones in the middle ear for more immediate, permanent damage. However, NIDCD suggested that this kind of hearing loss can be prevented. They also said that if you can't avoid the kind of noise that could make you deaf, even by wearing earplugs or other protective devices then move away from it.

The person's distance from the source of the sound and how long someone had been exposed are also important factors in protecting your hearing. The golden rule is to avoid noises that are either too loud, too close, or last for a long time. And if you suspect you've already been affected, make an appointment to have your hearing tested.

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