Hormone therapy might be a possible cause of hearing loss in women after menopause

A new study reported that hearing loss is associated with some factors that are linked to menopause.

One of the factors at the time of menopause is age, and it is also a widely known fact that hearing issues are related to old age. The other factor reported for the hearing loss was hormone therapy, which is considered by women to minimize menopause-related complications. According to the researchers, the longer the duration of the hormone therapy, higher would be the risk of hearing loss.

This result of the observational study was supported by JoAnn Pinkerton, Executive Director of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). He said, “The finding from this observational study that women who underwent menopause at a later age and used oral hormone therapy had greater hearing loss was unexpected but should lead to more testing in a randomized, clinical trial.”

Hearing loss was a common problem in females after menopause, during which, the normal level of hormone drops. This fact led doctors to think that the use of oral hormone replacement therapy might prevent menopause-related hearing loss in women.

The study reviewed the data from nearly 81,000 women in the U.S. and this only reported the link between the hearing loss and hormone therapy. The research did not aim at developing a cause and effect relationship.

The researcher also mentioned, “Information about the potential effect on hearing is important to include in a discussion regarding the risks and benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women.”

This hearing loss issue was reported by approximately 48 million American women.

Source: drugs.com