By Max S. Chartrand Ph.D.
A reader asks about a possible correlation between her osteoporosis condition and advancing hearing impairment. It's Your Hearing Health
Question:
Someone suggested that it is entirely possible that my osteoporosis condition can be contributing to my advancing hearing loss. Please, explain. --- Mrs. J.W.
Answer:
Dear Mrs. J.W.: Many patients are not aware that the body is a whole organism, not a collection of unrelated mechanisms. Health factors that cause deterioration of one part of the body can and will do the same elsewhere.
In my experience I've found that the ear is reflection of the body's overall health. There are very few underlying conditions in the body that we cannot observe or identify through assessment of the ear.
For example, if you suffer from osteoarthritis (1-2% bone loss per annum) or osteoporosis (3-5% bone loss) you will also develop tympanosclerosis (thickening and calcification of the eardrum) and/or otosclerosis (spongy deterioration of the middle ear bones and cochlear labyrinth).
Most sufferers of these conditions appear to have either a calcium absorption problem or a calcium deficiency. The first is usually affected by a pH (acid-alkaline) imbalance in the body, as found in gout, diabetes, chronic hypoglycemia, etc. The second condition is generally a simple matter of your body not receiving enough (of an absorbable form) of calcium.
Drinking all the milk in the world will not overcome an absorption problem, but will result in calcium deposits where you don't want them (on eardrums, at joints of long bones, spine, the lining of the inner ear, and kidney stones). There are some forms of calcium, however, that overcome most absorption problems, such as chelated calcium citrate (with vitamin D).
A simple deficiency can usually be helped by adding more calcium (with proportionate vitamin D) to the diet. Our bodies can only absorb only so much calcium, so that the higher the quality of the source the less one actually needs to take. One of my chief concerns today is that so many are being advised to take much larger amounts than their body can use, leaving the body rife with free calcium. It is my opinion that 600 mg. of actual asorption is about all that can be utilized when added on top of a proper diet.
But beware, popular antacids can be your worst form of calcium. Besides containing no vitamin D, which is necessary for proper absorption, most are processed with aluminum chlorohydroxide, making systemic absorption very poor. Often deposits and stones develop over time.
Also, there may be a connection between too much thyroid production, as can happen from taking too much medication for hypothyroidism and your production of calcitonin, which takes excess calcium out of the blood system and deposits it elsewhere. If the bones already have plenty of calcium to meet its normal depletion cycle, then excess calcitonin will only worsen the problems described above.
For that reason, we need to be aware that there are important balances in the body when taking medications, vitamins, and minerals, etc. As a result it always best to consult with a health professional trained in the interaction between medications and nutritional supplements.
The foregoing should not be construed as medical advice, but is for public education purposes only.
