A Thanksgiving Discussion: Is Hearing Loss Genetic?

Thanksgiving is a happy time. Be grateful for all things and surely eat a lot. Enjoy lots of great conversation, too, but don’t fail to mention serious matters. Discuss your family’s health history, since you are all together at this time. It’s an opportunity for wellness. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative recommends discussing such matters during this time. One matter you can discuss is genetic hearing loss.

Your genes

Hearing loss can be genetic, believe it or not. While diabetes, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease are known be hereditary, hearing loss can also be genetic. Between 50 and 60 percent of hearing loss in babies is due to genetics. While hearing loss does not always appear at birth, it may arise later in life because of a hereditary cause. So, it is vital to know your predisposition via genetics to hearing loss.

Mutated genes interfere with how sound is processed. However, just because your parents experience hearing loss doesn’t mean you will, too. But you may be a carrier and pass it on to your children.

Cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are both hereditary, are thought to cause hearing loss as an outcome or symptom. Even without a family history of hearing loss, such conditions, as mentioned, may contribute to it.

Family health

Knowing your family’s health history can help you better understand your genetic predisposition to poor health. Be watchful of hearing loss or other medical conditions running in your family. Thanksgiving, once a year, is a good time to keep up with potential health concerns. Your hearing, for instance, may depend on it. You can keep track of your family’s health history by contacting the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. They offer a My Family Health Portrait Web tool you can use. Also, be sure to contact your hearing instrument specialist at Pure Sound Hearing Aids with any concerns about your hearing.

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