Diabetes and Deafness

We all know that diabetes can be a deadly disease because apart from the disease itself, what is more worrisome are the many possible complications that it ultimately brings. There are many diabetic patients who, in the later phase of life, have gone on to lose their eyesight, or a foot or a limb because of complications due to diabetes.

However, aside from the eyes and the upper and lower extremities which are the usual targets of diabetes-related complications, the ears are also prone to being affected, though not really as a result of complications but rather an accompanying disability of the disease that only presents itself later in the life of a diabetic. In many such cases, the deafness will often be exhibited before the person becomes 40 years old. As with diabetes, the deafness is also inherited, often from the maternal side of the family. The degree of the deafness is usually varied, but will most likely result in the use of hearing aids.

Nevertheless, there is still too few cases of deafness being actually due to complications brought about by diabetes. The data available present deafness and diabetes as a single disorder with one following the other later in life due mainly to genetic make up. Yet, with diabetes' propensity to give rise to complications, it may not be a surprise if a large body of information relating deafness to diabetes soon becomes available.