Prospective Study of Hearing Loss and Type I Diabetes

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About 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and it is estimated that one in three Americans will be diabetics by 2050. High blood glucose, over time, can damage the blood vessels and nerves in the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes, and limbs and result in heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, vision loss, foot ulcers, amputations, etc. The inner ear is one of the organs rich in blood vessels and nerves and can be logically affected by diabetes. However, compared to the other diabetes complications, we know very little about the link between hearing loss and diabetes. Nearly 34.5 million people in the U.S. have some type of hearing loss which is almost similar to the number of diabetics in the U.S. In fact, the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes as it is in those who do not have the disease. For most people the symptoms of hearing loss can be hard to notice and most of the time, family members and friends notice hearing loss before the person experiencing it. Some research suggests that hearing loss may increase the risk of depression and could explain the higher rate of depression in people with diabetes. As with other types of hearing loss, the earlier it is diagnosed the sooner it can be managed. This study is being done to further explore the impact of type I diabetes on hearing function and to investigate the correlation between hearing loss and duration of diabetes, blood sugar control, and presence of other diabetes complications. Hypothesis: Hearing loss is more prevalent in type I diabetics who have micro- or macro-vascular complications compared to type I diabetics with no vascular complications.

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