drug damage to hearing

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http://www.asha.org/hearing/disorders/med_effects.cfm

 

www.ASHA.org > Hearing & Balance > Hearing Loss

 

Medication Effects on Hearing

Commonly used medications--both over-the-counter and prescribed--can damage

hearing or aggravate an already existing problem.

 

Any drug with the potential to cause toxic reactions to structures of the inner

ear are considered ototoxic. " Oto- " means ear. " Toxic " mean poisonous.

Therefore, ototoxic " means poisonous to the ear.

 

Hearing problems caused by ototoxic medications are often reversible if the drug

is discontinued. Sometimes, however, hearing loss is permanent. When a decision

is made to treat an illness or medical condition with a drug known to be

ototoxic, the health care team should consider the effects that hearing and

balance problems may have on the person's quality of life after the drug

therapy.

 

If a drug is known to cause permanent hearing loss or even deafness, why is it

used ?

 

Sometimes there is little choice. A particular drug may be the only known

medication available to cure a life-threatening disease or to stop a

life-threatening infection.

 

What drugs are ototoxic?

 

Approximately 200 drugs have been labeled as ototoxic. Different ototoxic drugs

can cause either permanent or temporary structural damage in the inner ear. The

damage can be of varying degree and reversibility.

 

Those drugs known to cause permanent damage are the aminoglycoside antibiotics

and the cancer chemotherapeutic agents cisplatin and carbo-platin.

 

Those known to cause temporary damage are salicylate analgesics, quinine, and

loop diuretics. In some instances, exposure to damaging noise while taking

certain drugs will increase their ototoxicity.

 

There are other categories of drugs known to be ototoxic including anesthetics,

cardiac medications, glucocorticosteroids (cortisone, steroids), mood altering

drugs, and some vapors and solvents.

 

It is important to discuss the potential for ototoxicity of any drug you are

taking with your physician and/or pharmacist.

 

Can the use of a known ototoxic drug be monitored to determine if hearing loss

is occurring?

 

Yes, audiologists can perform hearing tests before, during, and after the

administration of medications to detect the progression of ototoxic hearing

loss. This evaluation usually involves testing hearing in very high frequency

ranges--9,000 to 20,000 Hz--because ototoxic drugs affect these frequencies

first. (Typical hearing tests only test frequencies as high as 6,000 or 8,000

Hz.)

 

Hearing tests are done before the administration of the drug to obtain baseline

information. Monitoring is done at scheduled intervals to detect threshold

changes as early as possible. Data gathered through monitoring helps the

physician to make a decision to stop or change the drug therapy before hearing

in the frequencies critical for speech is damaged. In cases where hearing loss

is inevitable and " planned for, " the audiologist can plan and institute

rehabilitation measures.

 

Monitoring of hearing usually continues as part of rehabilitation to determine

if the hearing loss is stable. Rehabilitation may include fitting hearing aids,

assistive listening devices, and communication management.

 

for more of this article go to:

http://www.asha.org/hearing/disorders/med_effects.cfm

 

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