Aspirin, red wine may combat hearing loss: report
PARIS : Aspirin, red wine and green vegetables, already famous for
helping the heart, may also delay the onset of age-related deafness
and reduce hearing loss caused by powerful antibiotics and loud
noise, suggests New Scientist.
Indirect evidence for this comes from research into the effect of
antioxidants on hair cells, the delicate hairs of the inner ear
that are essential for hearing.
Jochen Schacht of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann
Arbor and colleagues found that salicylate - the key antioxidant in
aspirin - protected hair cells among patients who were given the
antibiotic gentamicin.
Hearing loss affected only three percent of patients who were given
gentamicin and a dose of aspirin.
Among those who took gentamicin and a harmless dummy pill, a
placebo, 13 percent had hearing loss.
Antioxidants are compounds that protect against DNA-damaging
molecules called free radicals. Antioxidants are also found in red
wine, green vegetables, apples, green tea and certain other foods
and beverages.
There is no direct evidence that dietary intake of antioxidants,
such as drinking moderate amounts of red wine, can prevent hearing
loss among humans, although studies in which rats were kept on
restricted diets suggest indirectly this could be the case, New
Scientist says.
"The jury's still out on that, but it certainly can't hurt to
increase the amount of green vegetables, red wine or green tea that
you consume," it quotes Schacht as saying.
The report is carried in next Saturday's issue of the British
science weekly. - AFP/de
Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd
source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/health/view/207675/1/.html
