Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: DoctorBeaver on 08/03/2008 08:04:07

Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 08/03/2008 08:04:07: From http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/drugs-alcohol/dn9157-red-wine-may-fight-deafness.html (http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/drugs-alcohol/dn9157-red-wine-may-fight-deafness.html)

MODERATE consumption of red wine or aspirin may delay the onset of age-related deafness and reduce hearing loss caused by loud noise and some antibiotics.

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 and in response to loud noise and exposure to antibiotics. 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, so might be expected to protect against some of this damage.

To test this, Jochen Schacht of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and his colleagues used salicylate to try and prevent damage to the hair cells in patients' ears caused by the powerful antibiotic gentamicin.

*opens another bottle of Burgundy*
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: another_someone on 08/03/2008 13:26:32: I rather doubt that the damage caused by antibiotics is comparable to the damage caused by load sounds (not saying that one is worse than the other, only I would have thought the mechanisms are different, and what might protect against one is unlikely to protect against the other).

Also, is it wise to be drinking alcohol while on antibiotics (or any substantial medication)? It may well be that red wine interferes with the action of the antibiotics in the ear, but in what other ways are the two also interacting?
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 08/03/2008 18:16:35: I don't think the article suggests drinking while in antibiotics.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Simulated on 08/03/2008 19:16:49: I think its time for me to start drinking some wine :)
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 08/03/2008 20:49:48: Pardon?
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Make it Lady on 08/03/2008 21:23:17: You can drink alcohol whilst on most antibiotics. There are only a small number (Metronydazol-not sure of spelling-for example)that you should abstain whilst taking. Doctors don't dispel the myth because, really, if you're ill you shouldn't be boozing. One should alway do do things in moderation.

Aspirin really is a wonder drug and red wine, well, I'd take a crate to a dessert Island as a luxury.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/03/2008 13:25:12: Quote from: Make it Lady on 08/03/2008 21:23:17
... red wine, well, I'd take a crate to a dessert Island as a luxury.

Would your dessert island be a trifle? Rice pudding? Or maybe baked Alaska?

But if you mean a DESERT island then red wine is a damned necessity, woman!
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Make it Lady on 09/03/2008 15:05:16: Sorry, thinking about bathing in jelly again, it sometimes gets in the way.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Bored chemist on 09/03/2008 18:46:56: I don't know if red wine does anything for your hearing, but I know it can take away the ability to speak.
One problem with antibiotics is they mess up the balance of bacteria in your stomach. Alcohol won't help that.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/03/2008 19:20:11: Quote from: Bored chemist on 09/03/2008 18:46:56
One problem with antibiotics is they mess up the balance of bacteria in your stomach. Alcohol won't help that.

But it could make you think the bacteria is your best friend in the whole world [:D]
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Make it Lady on 09/03/2008 20:10:56: Yakult has friendly bacteria.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/03/2008 20:34:11: Quote from: Make it Lady on 09/03/2008 20:10:56
Yakult has friendly bacteria.

Would you go for a pint and a curry with them?
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: Make it Lady on 09/03/2008 21:06:40: Depends who's paying.
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/03/2008 21:07:52: *points at JimBob*
Title: Red wine prevents deafness
Post by: black on 20/08/2008 09:33:22: Drinking red wine may help prevent deafness

Age-related deafness, and hearing loss caused by loud noise, may be reduced by the antioxidants in red wine, green tea and aspirin, it was claimed yesterday. The compounds they contain could help protect the delicate hairs of the inner ear that are vital to hearing, new research suggests.

Destructive chemical agents called oxygen-free radicals, produced by normal cellular processes and in response to loud noise and exposure to powerful antibiotics, can damage the hairs.

But antioxidants such as resveratrol, found in red wine and green tea, and salicylate, the active ingredient in aspirin, should be able to neutralise them.

To test whether this was the case, scientists in the United States used salicylate to prevent damage to hair cells in patients' ears caused by the strong antibiotic, gentamicin.

Hearing loss affected just 3 per cent of patients who were given gentamicin plus aspirin for acute ear infections, compared with 13 per cent treated with the antibiotic plus a non-active placebo.

Dr Jochen Schacht, of the University of Michigan Medical School, said: "That's a 75 per cent reduction in toxicity to the ear."

The evidence suggested that a similar effect could be achieved by including more antioxidant-rich foods in the diet, he added. "I wouldn't say it is proof for antioxidants, the jury's still out on that. But it certainly can't hurt to increase the amount of green vegetables, red wine or green tea that you consume."

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