Loud and clear
My father-in-law has been putting off buying a hearing aid for years. And when he asks us to repeat ourselves for the fourth and fifth times at family dinners, we all chuckle and roll our eyes. But the longer it goes on, the more I've realized that there's really nothing funny about it. Losing your hearing is frustrating, embarrassing, and in some cases, it can be downright dangerous. The good news, though, is that it doesn't have to be a "normal" part of getting older. In fact, chances are good that you already have the tools to prevent it in your medicine cabinet right now. Two new studies presented last month at the annual conference of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology found that a combination of three common nutrients prevented both short-term and long-term hearing loss in animals. The researchers gave the animals vitamin C, E, and magnesium and then exposed them to four hours of noise about the same level that you would experience at a rock concert. At the end of the noise exposure, the animals given the supplements didn't suffer from any temporary hearing loss. The second study set out to determine the effects of the same nutrient combo on exposure to one loud sound that would typically result in permanent hearing loss (such as an explosion or gun shot). Once again, the supplements prevented hearing loss in the animals by protecting a part of the ear known as the lateral wall. What makes this particular finding even more significant is that the lateral wall is also linked to age-related hearing loss. So this combination of nutrients may also help prevent more than just noise- induced loss of hearing. But if it's already too late for prevention, and you've been putting off your own hearing aid purchase, I've got good news for you as well. There's a simple, natural treatment Dr. Wright and his colleagues at the Tahoma Clinic have been using for years to restore hearing in people who have already started losing it. It involves keeping close tabs on your levels of aldosterone, one of the adrenal steroid hormones, and replacing what your body is missing if testing indicates a need. This technique is so powerful it even works in people who've had hearing loss for years - - restoring what they thought was gone for good often in a matter of just two months. To read more about it, refer back to the October 2008 issue of Nutrition & Healing. Subscribers can download and view this issue for free by visiting www.wrightnewsletter.com and logging on to the Archives with the username and password listed on page 8 of your most recent issue. And for those of you who aren't already subscribers, the website also offers details on how you can become one and start accessing this and all of Dr. Wright's other life-changing health tips, starting today. Source:
"Vitamins may prevent hearing loss: Animal studies," NutraIngredients.com (www.nutraingredients.com) 2/19/09 | 
