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Zinc Update: Efficacy of zinc supplementation in patients with noise-induced hearing loss

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eMediNexus    24 November 2020

Zinc plays an essential antioxidant role of metabolism in humans. Studies have demonstrated an association between noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and oxidative injury. But no analysis has focused precisely on the subgroup of NIHL associated tinnitus patients.

The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of zinc supplementation in managing the NIHL associated tinnitus. 20 patients with tinnitus and a typical NIHL audiogram (i.e.38 ears) were incorporated in the study. 20 other healthy participants were used as the control group. A full medical history assessment was done and each participant has to undergo an otoscopic examination, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), basic audiologic assessment, tinnitus-match testing, and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and serum zinc level analyses. All these tests were repeated after 2 months of zinc treatment.

A significant difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment within the tinnitus group (73.6 vs. 84.6 μg/dl) was observed. The before and after treatment difference in serum zinc levels were significantly higher in the young group (≦50 years) than the old group (19.4 ± 11.4 vs. 2.6 ± 9.2 μg/dl, respectively). No significant differences in speech reception thresholds, hearing thresholds, or tinnitus frequency and loudness was observed pre and post treatment. Moreover, 17 patients i.e. 85% revealed a significant improvement of THI-total scores post-treatment, from 38.3 to 30.

The study concluded that zinc oral supplementation raised the serum zinc levels, especially in younger patients. Also, the THI scores improved significantly after the zinc treatment in patients with NIHL associated tinnitus.

Source: Biomed J. 2019 Feb;42(1):46-52

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