Folate May Prevent Hearing Loss in Men
Lee Swanson Research Update
Increased intakes of folate and folic acid may reduce the risk of hearing loss in men by 20%, says a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.
Researchers led by Boston-based Josef Shargorodsky used the most recent figures from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study cohort from years 1986 to 2004, a group consisting of 51,529 male health professionals.
The study identified 3,559 cases of men with hearing loss. When the nutritional data was analyzed, men over the age of 60 with high folate intake from foods and supplements had a 20% decreased risk of developing hearing loss.
This is not the first time the B vitamin has been linked to the prevention of hearing loss, the most common sensory disorder in the United States that affects more than 36 million people. In 2007 scientists from Wageningen University reported that folic acid supplements delayed age-related hearing loss in the low frequency region in a study of 728 men and women between the ages of 50 and 70.
Dr. Shargorodsky and his co-workers believe theirs is the largest study to delve prospectively into the relationship between dietary intake and hearing loss. The findings can allow greater education, prevention and screening efforts for hearing loss, said the researchers.
Folate is found in foods such as green leafy vegetables, chick peas and lentils, and an overwhelming body of evidence has linked folate deficiency in early pregnancy to increased risk of neural tube defects (NTD)—most commonly spina bifida and anencephaly—in infants.
This connection led to the 1998 introduction of public health measures in the U.S. and Canada, where all grain products are fortified with folic acid—the synthetic, bioavailable form of folate.
While preliminary evidence indicates that the measure is having an effect with a reported 15% to 50% reduction in NTD incidence, parallel measures in European countries are still on the table.
Annals of Internal Medicine Vol. 146, pp. 1-9