Steroid treatment analyzed for sudden hearing loss
According to a published review in the Archives of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery there is little proof to suggest that steroids are effective for treating patients suffering from sudden hearing loss.
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss or sudden hearing loss is believed to affect approximately 5-20 out of every 100,000 individuals on a yearly basis.
Some of the currently followed treatment options are vitamins, herbs, minerals, antiviral medications, hyperbaric oxygen, and agents capable of diluting the blood.
From News-Medical.Net:
Anne Elizabeth Conlin, B.A. & Sc., M.D., of the University of Ottawa, Ontario, and Lorne S. Parnes, M.D., F.R.C.S.C., of the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, searched for all randomized clinical trials evaluating treatments for sudden hearing loss published between 1966 and 2006.
For the systematic review, 21 trials were identified and evaluated, all of which used measures from hearing tests to define treatment outcomes. “Only two studies used identical criteria to define sudden sensorineural hearing loss,” the authors write. “The method of randomization was described in two studies. Validity scores ranged from two to eight (of nine). Positive results were reported favoring systemic steroids, intratympanic [inside the inner ear] steroids, batroxobin, magnesium, vitamin E and hyperbaric oxygen, although there were serious limitations in each study with a positive finding.”
The review authors noted that treating sudden hearing loss is complicated as the exact cause of this ailment often remains unknown. It was also noted that the complication can be termed as a medical emergency without a rational treatment approach or scientific understanding of its cause.
Tags: Steroids, sudden hearing loss, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, systemic steroids
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