March 31, 2003
Other Illnesses
Question from Travelers Rest, South Carolina, USA:
My eight year old son, who has had had type 1 diabetes since he was nine months old, uses an insulin pump, and his last hemoglobin A1c was 7.6%. We have recently found out that he has lost 50% of his hearing in his left ear. His ENT doctor had him have an MRI to rule out a tumor (he did not have one), and told us that this is caused by nerve damage, but he did not think it was from diabetes. However, the audiologist thinks that it could be. Have you ever heard of diabetes causing nerve damage in the ears? He has recently received his hearing aid, and seems to be adjusting fine.
Answer:
I do know that some believe there is an autoimmune form of hearing loss. Ask about it and maybe get a referral to someone who has heard of it. type 1 diabetes is also autoimmune, so maybe he has both.
LD
