Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qs9v7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T18:10:31.225Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Is there a relationship between premature hair greying and hearing impairment?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2015

I Ozbay*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey
C Kahraman
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey
C Kucur
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey
N D Namdar
Affiliation:
Department of Dermatology, Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey
F Oghan
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Isa Ozbay, Department of Otolaryngology, Medicine Faculty of Dumlupınar University, Kutahya, Turkey Fax: +90 (0)274 231 6673 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Objective:

There is evidence for a strong correlation between low bone mineral density and hearing loss. Furthermore, premature hair greying has been associated with low bone mineral density. Hence, this study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the relationship between premature hair greying and hearing impairment.

Methods:

Fifty patients with premature hair greying (20 women and 30 men), aged under 40 years (mean, 30.1 ± 4.9 years), who had onset of hair greying in their twenties, were recruited, along with 45 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (17 women and 28 men; mean age, 28.7 ± 5.1 years). Each participant was tested with low frequency audiometry at 0.125 to 2 kHz, high frequency audiometry at 4 to 8 kHz, and extended high frequency audiometry at 9 to 20 kHz.

Results:

Hearing thresholds were similar at all frequencies from 0.25 to 4 kHz (p > 0.05); however, significant hearing loss was observed at all frequencies from 8 to 20 kHz in the premature hair greying group compared with the control group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Patients with premature hair greying had hearing impairment at extended high frequencies. Premature hair greying may be an important risk factor for hearing loss.

Type
Main Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Presented orally at the 3rd Congress of European ORL-HNS, 7–11 June 2015, Prague, Czech Republic.

References

1Tobin, DJ, Paus, R. Greying: gerontobiology of the hair follicle pigmentary unit. Exp Gerontol 2001;36:2954CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Morton, DJ, Kritz-Silverstein, D, Riley, DJ, Barrett-Connor, EL, Wingard, DL. Premature greying, balding, and low bone mineral density in older women and men: the Rancho Bernardo study. J Aging Health 2007;19:275–85CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Rosen, CJ, Holick, MF, Millard, PS. Premature greying of hair is a risk marker for osteopenia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1994;79:854–7Google ScholarPubMed
4Dawber, RP, Gummer, CL. The colour of the hair. In: Dawber, R, ed. Diseases of the Hair and Scalp, 3rd edn.Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1997;397416Google Scholar
5Lorincz, AL. Disturbances of melanin pigmentation. In: Moschella, SL, Hurley, HJ, eds. Dermatology, 2nd edn.Philadelphia: WS Saunders, 1985;1290–317Google Scholar
6Orr-Walker, BJ, Evans, MC, Ames, RW, Clearwater, JM, Reid, IR. Premature hair greying and bone mineral density. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997;82:3580–3Google ScholarPubMed
7Mahboubi, H, Dwabe, S, Fradkin, M, Kimonis, V, Djalilian, HR. Genetics of hearing loss: where are we standing now? Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2012;269:1733–45CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Kahveci, OK, Demirdal, US, Yücedag, F, Cerci, U. Patients with osteoporosis have higher incidence of sensorineural hearing loss. Clin Otolaryngol 2014;39:145–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Mendy, A, Vieira, ER, Albatineh, AN, Nnadi, AK, Lowry, D, Gasana, J. Low bone mineral density is associated with balance and hearing impairments. Ann Epidemiol 2014;24:5862CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Radaei, F, Gharibzadeh, S. Relationship among bone mineral density reduction, hearing loss, and balance disorders in osteoporotic patients. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2013;1:17Google ScholarPubMed
11Schnohr, P, Lange, P, Nyboe, J, Appleyard, M, Jensen, G. Grey hair, baldness, and wrinkles in relation to myocardial infarction: the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Am Heart J 1995;130:1003–10CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Dawber, RP. Integumentary associations of pernicious anaemia. Br J Dermatol 1970;82:221–3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Monsell, EM. The mechanism of hearing loss in Paget's disease of bone. Laryngoscope 2004;114:598606CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Swinnen, FK, De Leenheer, EM, Goemaere, S, Cremers, CW, Coucke, PJ, Dhooge, IJ. Association between bone mineral density and hearing loss in osteogenesis imperfecta. Laryngoscope 2012;122:401–8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Sulaiman, AH, Husain, R, Seluakumaran, K. Evaluation of early hearing damage in personal listening device users using extended high-frequency audiometry and otoacoustic emissions. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2014;271:1463–70CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Kucur, C, Kucur, SK, Gozukara, I, Seven, A, Yuksel, KB, Keskin, N et al. Extended high frequency audiometry in polycystic ovary syndrome. ScientificWorldJournal 2013;30:482689Google Scholar
17Sharma, D, Munjal, SK, Panda, NK. Extended high frequency audiometry in secretory otitis media. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2012;64:145–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed