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Covid-19 creates hearing, balance disorders, worsens tinnitus: Study
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IANS | 11 Jun, 2021
After loss of taste, respiratory distress, researchers
have found evidence that Covid-19 also leads to hearing and balance
disorders, as well as aggravating tinnitus symptoms.
The factors
that may play a role in the relationship between Covid-19 and hearing
are multifold. Covid-19 is known to have inflammatory effects, including
in neurological tissue, which can exacerbate other problems, said
Colleen Le Prell, from the University of Texas at Dallas.
"Inflammation
can damage the auditory and vestibular pathways in the peripheral and
central nervous system, just as it damages smell and taste pathways, and
other neural systems," Le Prell said.
In addition, there are
several studies suggesting the mental anxiety caused by the pandemic,
such as lockdown-related stress and concerns about the negative impacts
of masks on audibility and communication accessibility, may magnify the
auditory impacts of the virus. This is especially so for people who
already had tinnitus, prior to the pandemic.
"Increases in
tinnitus bothersomeness were associated with reports of pandemic-related
loneliness, sleep troubles, anxiety, depression, irritability, and
financial worries," Le Prell said. "In other words, participants who
experienced general increases in stress reported their tinnitus to be
more bothersome than before the pandemic."
Some early
experimental treatments, like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine (which
are not recommended by the National Institutes of Health), can also have
auditory side effects, particularly in patients with kidney problems.
"When
the kidneys are not functioning properly, the drug may not (be)
metabolised and eliminated from the body as quickly, which can increase
physiological drug concentrations and risk of side effects," Le Prell
said.
"Old age is often accompanied by decreased renal function,
and Covid-19 can cause renal dysfunction, which increases the risk that a
patient who is given an experimental therapy for Covid-19 will be at
risk for ototoxicity," Le Prell noted.
Prell presented the study during the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held virtually June 8-10.
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