Red wine may fight deafness, hearing loss

Deafness :: Red wine may fight deafness, hearing loss

Moderate consumption of red wine or aspirin may fight deafness and hearing loss caused by loud noise or intake of certain antibiotics, say scientists.

The delicate hairs of the inner ear, which are vital for hearing, can be damaged by the oxygen free radicals produced by normal cellular processes throughout life or in response to loud noise and exposure to antibiotics, reported the online edition of New Scientist.

Jochen Schacht of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and his colleagues used salicylate to try to prevent damage to the hair cells in patients' ears caused by gentamicin - a powerful antibiotic often used to treat severe, acute ear infections.

Antioxidants such as resveratrol, which is found in red wine and green tea or salicylate, the active ingredient of aspirin, help to neutralise these free radicals and are expected to protect against some of this damage, says Schacht.