Diabetes can cause deafness, says study

Washington: Diabetes doesn't just cause blindness — it could also make you deaf, a study has warned.      According to researchers, patients with diabetes have a significantly higher prevalence of hearing impairment than patients without the disease. They note that the finding is likely to be independent of the effect of aging or a noisy environment.      The number of those with impaired hearing more than doubled in the period from 1995 to 2004, researchers said.      "The link between hearing impairment with diabetes is controversial, but it is believed that over time, high blood glucose levels can damage vessels in the stria vascularis and nerves diminishing the ability to hear," said Chika Horikawa from Japan. the lead author of the study.      "We found persons with diabetes had more than two times higher prevalence of hearing impairment than those without diabetes," Horikawa said. PTI