A cup of coffee is something that makes morning almost perfect for a number of people. However, a new study claims that caffeine may stop people from recovering from short-term hearing loss.
The study conducted by a team of researchers from McGill University claims that caffeine impedes human body's ability to recover from a short-term hearing loss. That is, the boost of energy that people get after consuming caffeine may permanently prevent their ears from bouncing back from the damage caused to them by loud music or some other factor.
Under extremely loud music, human ears are subjected to temporary hearing loss or reduction called auditory temporary threshold shift. The condition is usually reversible within the first 72 hours of exposure. However, if the symptoms persist, the damage can become permanent.
During the study, researcher Faisal Zawawi and his team conducted tests on guinea pigs. Therefore, it is not sure whether the same study results are valid for humans or not. The team had previously identified the link between hearing loss and caffeine consumption and this time as well, the team decided to work on their previous findings.
The team exposed two groups of guinea pigs to the loud noise of around 110 decibels. The noise was equivalent to a typically amplified gig and the exposure continued for about an hour. One of the two groups acted as a control group, while the other one acted as the test group.
The control group was not given any caffeine to consume. On the other hand, the test group members were given a daily dose of 25mg/kg of caffeine. After a day of exposure, both the groups showed similar levels of hearing loss.
After eight days of exposure, the team found that the control group had recovered completely, but the test group still demonstrated hearing impairment. The team thus concluded that caffeine consumption has a direct impact on the ability to recover from hearing loss.
