Hearing Loss May Signal More Trouble
Reported June 30, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Sudden loss of hearing may be a warning sign of a stroke and could foreshadow the condition as early as two years in advance.
Researchers reviewed data on 1,423 patients five years after being hospitalized for an acute episode of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). They found those patients were more than one-and-a-half times more likely to experience a stroke than a group of 5,692 patients hospitalized for appendix removal surgery. However, because information was obtained using the national medical insurance records database in Taiwan, researchers say the findings may not be completely accurate.
To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the incidence or risk of cerebrovascular diseases developing following the onset of sudden sensorineural hearing loss, Herng-Ching Lin, Ph.D., lead investigator and a professor at Taipei Medical University School of Health Care Administration in Taiwan, was quoted as saying. But because this is the first time any association has been suggested, and because there were many limitations in the data, the results need to be interpreted cautiously until additional independent studies are performed.
Regardless, the researchers still advise all SSNHL patients to have neurological and blood tests performed to assess their risk for stroke.
SOURCE: Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, published online