Abstract
Introduction: Age related hearing loss (ARHL) is a common troublesome disorder of inner ear in elderly. It is characterized by degenerative changes in hair cells leading to slow, insidious, progressive hearing loss. Deficiency of multivitamin & minerals are common in elderly and has been advocated in etiopathology of ARHL.
Aim & Objective: To compare serum vitamin B12 & folic acid in cases of age related hearing loss with normal population.
Materials & Methods: In this prospective study through audiometric assessment was done of 80 patients of ARHL & 80 normal subjects aged 40-60 years. All patients underwent blood estimation of Hemoglobin, BSL, Serum vitamin B12, Folic acid. Data analysis was done by SPSS software.
Results: It was found that serum folic acid was significantly low (P=0.03) in ARHL group as compared to normal subjects. On the other hand, serum vitamin B12 levels showed no statistical difference among both ARHL and control group.
Conclusion: This study indicates low level of serum folic acid is associated with ARHL.
Keywords: Presbyacusis, Multivitamins, Vitamin B12 , Folic acid , SNHL.
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Corresponding Author
Dr Maitri Kaushik