Can You Hear Me? Another Benefit of Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Do you know what presbycusis is?  I had to look it up – it means the loss of hearing that occurs with aging.  Most of us over 70s know about this, even if we haven’t heard of presbycusis.  And that’s why we get unsolicited invitations to try wonderful hearing aids that are smaller than an earwig.  Anyway, there seems to be a possibility of delaying the onset of presbycusis, according to an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.    

The Blue Mountains Hearing Study, which ran from 1997 to 2004, was designed to examine an association between dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and the risk of age-related hearing loss.  Dietary data were obtained from food-frequency questionnaires given to almost 3,000 people aged 50 and above.  Presbycusis was diagnosed based on hearing tests (a loss of 25 decibels or more at frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 kHz).

There was a clear association between total omega-3 intake and hearing loss.  People eating 2 or more servings of fish a week compared with those eating fewer than one serving a week had a 42% reduced risk of developing hearing loss.

Correlation (i.e. this association) is not causation, of course.  There was a prior study showing that folic acid supplementation (daily, oral, 800 µg) delayed hearing loss in the lower frequencies in men and women aged 50 to 70.  And studies in lab animals show that the mineral magnesium prevents experimental hearing loss.  So the role of omega-3s is not as definitive as one might hope.  Further studies will clarify the situation.  In the meantime, eating fish more than twice a week is a good thing, anyway. . .