The 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, held this year in San Diego, was the site of a presentation on October 5, 2009 of research conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston which found a protective effect for the B vitamin folate against the development of hearing loss in older men.



For their research, Josef Shargorodsky, MD and his colleagues analyzed data from 26,273 male dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, pharmacists, podiatrists, and veterinarians who were 40-75 years of age upon enrollment in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study in 1986. Health and dietary questionnaires completed every two years were analyzed for the intake levels of several vitamins, including folate. Questionnaires completed in 2004 obtained information on hearing loss diagnosed since the beginning of the study.
Over the course of the follow-up, 3,559 men developed hearing loss. Although no association was noted between the condition and other vitamin intake, men over 60 whose intake of folate from food and supplements was among the highest 20 percent of participants had a 21 percent reduction in the risk of developing hearing loss compared with those in the lowest fifth. Continue Reading http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2009/1009_Folate-Intake-Associated-with-Lower-Incidence-of-Hearing-Loss.htm?source=eNewsLetter2009Wk41-2&key=Article&l=0#article