Now hear this! According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), close to two-thirds of all women in the United States have some degree of hearing loss.
And now a new study is showing what may be the cause for many of them.
The study shows a clear connection to over-the-counter pain pills!
The authors of the study note that aspirin, NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aleve and Advil), and acetaminophen (Tylenol) can cause hearing loss if you use them on a regular basis. However, these researchers wanted to know just how high the risks were and how long a woman would need to be taking the pills before damaging her hearing.
To do the study, they asked 55,850 women complaining of hearing loss how often and how long they had been taking aspirin, NSAIDs, or acetaminophen. They discovered that both NSAIDs and acetaminophen increased the risk of hearing loss by 10%, but only if the women took them for six years or more. They did not find that aspirin caused hearing loss. The authors concluded, “Considering the high prevalence of analgesic [pain pills] use, this may be an important modifiable contributor to hearing loss.”
So, if you are regularly taking these drugs, let me suggest you work on finding another way to deal with your pain. NSAIDs can affect your hearing, and they can also damage your kidneys and cause peptic ulcers. Acetaminophen is toxic to the liver.
If you are taking these medications regularly for arthritic pain and haven’t tried nutrients like 5-LOXIN, yucca, turmeric, and glucosamine yet, you should consider doing so. I have found that these nutrients work well on arthritis anywhere in the body, including the knees, hands, and hips. And they won’t cause hearing loss.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
REF: Lin, B.M., S.G. Curhan, et al. “Duration of Analgesic Use and Risk of Hearing Loss in Women. Am J Epidemiol.” 2017 January 1;185(1):40-47.