One of the major causes of hearing loss is aging, a condition called presbycusis. There is some evidence that the damage is not only in the auditory (hearing) nerves, but also in connections within the brainstem.
Inflammation and excitotoxicity play a significant role in this condition, and are often triggered by poor circulation within the inner ear and brainstem.
By improving blood flow through the tiny arteries of the nerves and brainstem, vinpocetine helps protect these delicate neurons.
Reducing inflammation and blood coagulation, blocking excitotoxicity, and improving red blood cell elasticity, energy production, and mitochondrial stimulation also go a long way in protecting hearing.
Animal studies have shown that vinpocetine can prevent damage to the hearing mechanisms within the brainstem.
Studies using people with hearing loss and tinnitus (persistent ear ringing) caused by trauma found that 50 percent of those given vinpocetine within one week of the injury had a complete disappearance of the ringing in their ears.
A significant improvement in hearing occurred in 79 percent of these patients, and 66 percent had a significant decrease in tinnitus no matter how long after the injury the treatment was started.
Other studies have shown an improvement in sensorineural hearing loss (which occurs when there is damage to the inner ear or nerve pathways to the brain) and in Meniere’s disease, an inner ear condition that causes vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, and tinnitus.
One of the complications of taking certain types of antibiotics, such as the aminoglycosides, is hearing loss and tinnitus, which can be quite severe.
A recent study found that vinpocetine could protect the hearing of animals given high doses of one of these antibiotics.
In most studies, the dose for hearing loss ranged from 10 mg twice a day to 20 mg twice a day.
Read more: Tinnitus and Vinpocetine
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