Diabetes and Hearing Loss: Understanding the Connection

Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide, including over 300 000 people in New Zealand. Diabetes can impact many aspects of health and recent research has shown that it is also a risk factor for hearing loss. Diabetes may affect hearing through damage to blood vessels, nerve damage, or chronic inflammation, all of which may damage the delicate inner ear and hearing nerve.  

What we know about diabetes and hearing loss: 

• Hearing loss is nearly twice as common in adults with type 2 diabetes that in non-diabetics. 

• Age related hearing loss may show up earlier or progress faster in those with diabetes.  

• Diabetes is more common as you get older – just like hearing loss. 

If you have diabetes, monitoring your hearing health is really important. Annual hearing tests are a great way to keep a track of your hearing and be proactive in caring for your health. 

At Bellbird Hearing we offer free hearing screenings, which are a fantastic way to check if you have a hearing loss that needs to be assessed further.  

If you’d like further information, or to cite the research behind this article, refer to the full story on the Phonak audio blog here.