Omega-3s May Protect Against Hearing Challenges

THURSDAY, July 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Higher blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may protect against hearing difficulty in middle-aged adults, according to a study presented during NUTRITION 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, held from July 22 to 25 in Boston.

Michael I. McBurney, Ph.D., from the University of Guelph and Tufts University/Fatty Acid Research Institute in Canada, and colleagues examined associations between plasma omega-3 fatty acids (i.e., DHA) and self-reported hearing loss. The analysis included more than 100,000 participants (aged 40 to 69 years) in the U.K. Biobank.

The researchers found that 38 percent of respondents reported difficulty hearing, with 26 percent reporting background noise hearing problems. Only 5 percent of respondents reported using hearing aids. In adjusted models, the investigators found that people with the highest DHA levels had a lower risk for hearing loss versus those with the lowest levels, including for hearing difficulty (highest versus lowest quintile: odds ratio, 0.89), difficulty hearing with background noise (odds ratio, 0.92), and hearing aid use (odds ratio, 0.80).

"Higher DHA levels have previously been found to be associated with a lower risk of heart disease, cognitive impairment, and death," McBurney said in a statement. "Our study extends these findings to suggest a role for DHA in maintaining auditory function and helping reduce the risk of age-related hearing loss."

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