By IANS
New York : Genes play a significant role in the increasing loss of hearing with age, says a new study.
Researchers at Brandeis University came to this conclusion after examining genetic and environmental factors affecting hearing loss in twins.
Findings of the study have been published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.
“This research confirms the importance of genetic factors in age-associated hearing loss, and the need for vulnerable individuals and their families to take extra care to prevent further hearing damage,” said lead author Arthur Wingfield.
The study suggests that middle-aged and older people with a genetic vulnerability to hearing loss should be particularly careful about environmental risk factors such as harmful noise and medications whose side-effects could be detrimental to hearing.
Wingfield said that even mild hearing loss can indirectly lead to declines in cognitive performance because intellectual energy normally reserved for higher-level comprehension must be directed toward perceptual effort for accurate hearing.
Hearing loss is the third most common chronic disability among older adults after arthritis and hypertension.