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Anthony Ademiluyi
Medical specialists in ear, nose and throat management have warned Nigerians against drug misuse, poor treatment of infections in pregnancy, as well as exposure to loud noise, noting that unknown to many people, they could lead to sudden hearing loss.
According to the experts, certain medications when used inappropriately which often arise from self-medication can damage some very sensitive organs in the ear and lead to hearing loss.
The experts also cautioned Nigerians against undue exposure to loud noise, warning that such could also cause sudden deafness.
Speaking with our correspondent, the experts, ENT Head and Surgical Resident at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr. Onyekachi Iheagwu, and the Head ENT, National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Abiodun Olusesi said it has become imperative for the Nigerian nation to pay better attention to and address factors leading to sudden hearing loss among Nigerians.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Dr. Iheagwu said that hearing loss could happen to a baby even in the womb and due to some other cases after birth.
He said: “The misuse of some drugs, drug overdosage, improperly treated maternal infections in pregnancy should all be addressed as they could cause hearing loss. It is important to stress that there are some diseases that a pregnant woman might experience that if not properly treated can affect the developing child. Then after birth, there are other things like exposure to loud noise which is also dangerous and many people do not know this.
“People should also stop inserting objects into their ears, you see people using feathers and some even stick to clean their ears, which could rupture the eardrum and lead to hearing loss.
“Then when a child is sick, like a child who has even developed his hearing, sometimes when they suffer from some sicknesses and they are given some drugs like chloroquine, quinine, or geneticin, it could lead to hearing loss.”
Dr. Iheagwu also added that some health conditions could also lead to hearing loss.
“A lot of health conditions could lead to hearing loss. Some of these health conditions include some congenital heart diseases, that’s diseases the child was born with, they have multiple symptoms. Some of them like gastrointestinal, and developmental disorders could lead to hearing disorders. There is also the welding box syndrome and chromosome disease.
“Then harmful practices, such as when a child is convulsing and people inserting stuff into the ears, nose, and all that. So much could lead to hearing loss. There are also some diseases in adults that could lead to hearing loss. This includes complicated diabetes and sickle cell diseases. Both could lead to hearing loss. Patients on cancer drugs are also at risk as some of the drugs are auto-toxic to the ear cells which could lead to ear loss.
“In this teaching hospital, we’ve been having quite a good number of hearing loss cases. Some authorities have said it is up to 30 per cent in our clime, others have put it at ranges as low as let’s say 10-15 per cent so I’ll just say the range is about 10-30 per cent,” Dr. Iheagwu said.
The ENT specialist explained that factors often responsible for hearing loss can be grouped into three major groups.
“They are pregnancy-related factors, child developmental factors then drug-related factors. That is when a drug used in treating some illnesses causes hearing loss. An example is when a patient has meningitis and they administer gentamicin injection to him or her. We in ENT don’t really like gentamicin because the medication is very toxic to the ear and can cause hearing loss. Other diseases that I’ve earlier mentioned, like sickle cell, and people treating long-standing diseases like diabetes, and immunosuppressive conditions like HIV also risk hearing loss,” he said.
Dr. Iheagwu said public enlightenment is key to the prevention of hearing loss, adding that there is a need to educate Nigerians through radio and Television programmes.
He also urged Nigerians to ask questions concerning ear health when they visit hospitals for other health issues while stressing that they should also stay away from noise pollution.
Noise pollution, he said, is at three levels of prevention, namely primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.
The government, he stressed, has a big role to play in the enactment of laws to reduce the effects of noise pollution, adding that there should be massive enlightenment and awareness of agents of noise pollution
“Government should institute noise pollution prevention measures and enforce relevant laws relating to it,” he said.
Also speaking with our correspondent, Dr. Olusesi said it can sometimes be frustrating treating hearing loss, especially when trying to know the dimension of the hearing loss and how to restore the loss.
“Now the first major cause of hearing loss in children is often infection. It could be meningitis, especially those living within the meningitis belt, and some rubella These are all associated with the early onset of hearing loss.
“Then in adults, medications are important causes, some medications are toxic to the ear, so they are described as auto-toxic. Examples are gentamicin, another example is chloramphenicol. There are also other medications used for different treatments of diseases affecting the body, for instance, streptomycin is used for the treatment of tuberculosis but can cause hearing loss when misused.
“Where you can identify the medication you should avoid them but there are situations where a physician’s hands are tied. For example, if someone has tuberculosis, it has to be treated or it might take his life, even though the side effects of that treatment could lead to hearing loss,” he said.
He explained that meningitis that causes hearing loss is often seasonal, adding that other infections like Lassa fever which is now common in some parts of the country are also associated with hearing loss.
On the prevalence of hearing loss, he said, the prevalence he prefers is the one based on the world health organisation data, disclosing that the WHO sponsored a study in 2001 and 2002 where three of the Nigerian Geo political zones were sampled.
He said that based on the study, Nigeria has a prevalence of 4.5 out of 100. “In order words, out of 2 million Nigerians, they have about 4.5 per cent and that is the prevalence,” he said.
He also reiterated the need for Nigerians to do more to avoid exposure to noise pollution.
“In everyday social life, people get exposed to loud noise. During parties, especially during social gatherings if you’re unfortunate to have your seat close to the speaker, you might develop a dory of temporary hearing loss which can become permanent if you are consistently exposed to the noise.
“So, avoiding exposure to noise and regulating noise production that is acceptable in each environment will go a long way in reducing hearing loss.
“For those that are professionally exposed to noise, I’m talking about the DJs, military men, and the average pepper grinder, they have to wear protective ear plugs and mufflers. Unfortunately, some work in the mines where they blast rocks and generate loud noise, and continuous exposure could also lead to hearing loss,” he said.
According to a study published by Ear Science Institute Australia, hearing loss affects approximately one-third of adults over the age of 55 and three in every four people aged over 70 years. Hearing loss is also associated with a number of other health conditions. These include diabetes (Sommer, 2017), dementia (Livingston, 2021), and heart disease (Tan, 2018).
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