June Russell's Health Facts

Alcohol, Hearing, and Meniere's Disease

In the March 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, a German study found that even moderate drinking can cause some degree of hearing loss. It does this by increasing the time it takes to process sound in the auditory brainstem, and this nerve damage is caused by the long-term, cumulative effect of drinking, the researchers say. Chronic (regular) consumption leads to the defects of the central auditory brainstem, which cause delay in neurotransmission time, and moderate drinkers can end up with as much nerve damage and hearing loss as heavy drinkers because it adds up, says Dr. Elisabeth Stephanie Smith, from the Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic at the University of Ulm. This finding “can be explained by the loss of white matter in the brain, and delay in neurotransmission time” and ‘even an amount of alcohol consumption which is normally accepted by society can have a damaging effect on the auditory system.’

Kathleen C.M. Campbell, Director of Audiology Research at Southern Illinois University comment's was that it is not known what specific hearing difficulties the drinker would notice, possibly difficulty accurately hearing people who were speaking quickly or having problems distinguishing one voice or sound from another in a setting where there was a lot of background noise. Dr. Jeffrey Harris, Professor and Chief of Otolaryngology at the University of California, San Diego says “this is a very interesting article and adds additional credence to the accepted concept that alcohol is toxic to the central nervous system.”
{“Drinking can lead to hearing loss,” health central.com and pharma-lexicon.com, Mar. 2004}

The use of alcohol causes vasodilation and actually makes you more sensitized to noise-induced hearing loss, and once your hearing is gone ... it's gone! There are 28 million people with significant hearing loss, one-third of these from noise-induced hearing loss.
{Dr. Harold Pillsbury, Professor of Surgery and Otolaryngology at the University of NC School of Medicine}

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure have a high incidence of damage to the sensory nerve for hearing as well as middle ear disease, according to scientists at the Bowman-Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC
{docguide.com, 2001}

Reduced hearing capacity or deteriorating hearing may be due to free radical damage.
{"Can age-related hearing loss be reversed?" Member's Alert, Health Sciences Institute, Nov. 2001}  Editor's comment: Alcohol use is one of the causes of excess free radicals.

If you frequently hear noises (ringing, hissing, roaring, buzzing, whistling, chirping, clicking, etc.) you have a condition known as tinnitus. In addition to other aggravations, alcohol aggravates tinnitus.
{"Sound advice for tinnitus," Self Healing newsletter, Andrew Weil, MD, Feb. 2002}

--- Meniere's Disease ---

Three to five million Americans suffer from Meniere's disease (intermittent dizziness, nausea, and hearing problems that seem to be caused by an excess of fluid in the inner ear). Although prescription drugs and surgery can ease symptoms, they often have unpleasant side effects. Lifestyle changes, such as avoiding alcohol and lowering sodium, can reduce the frequency and intensity of the attacks.
{Dr. Andrew Weil's Self Healing newsletter, Oct. 1999}