Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of hearing loss
There is an association between metabolic syndrome and hearing loss, a large Korean study finds.
In the Korean study, data from 11,457,931 people was followed and analysed. 7,574,432 did not have metabolic syndrome, while 3,883,499 had metabolic syndrome in the beginning of the study.
Metabolic syndrome describes a group of risk factors which raise the risk of heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke.
More years, higher prevalence
In the study among people without metabolic syndrome after 1 year, 1.3% had developed a hearing loss while 1.8% of those with metabolic syndrome had a hearing loss. After 3 years, the figures were 4.1% and 5.2% respectively and after 5 years the number of persons who had a hearing loss was 6.8% without metabolic syndrome and 8.6% for those with metabolic syndrome.
Risk factors
In the study among the components of metabolic syndrome, the association between low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or high triglycerides (TG) levels and hearing loss was most apparent.
The researchers conclude that it is useful to evaluate each metabolic syndrome component in isolation, such as the presence of low HDL or high TG levels, rather than the presence of metabolic syndrome as a cluster of components.
An earlier study from Iran has shown that Metabolic Syndrome is a risk factor for hearing loss and with an increase in the number of Metabolic Syndrome components, the risk of hearing loss is also increased.
The study “Association of metabolic syndrome with the incidence of hearing loss: A national population-based study” was published in the journal PLOS ONE
Sources: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and PLOS ONE