Can wine protect your hearing?

Red wine has always been credited with providing different health benefits but now, scientists are saying it could help to protect against hearing loss.

The study, conducted at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, looked at rats.  They found that healthy
rats were a lot less likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss when given resveratrol – a chemical found in red grapes and red wine.  They were exposed to loud noise to test the effectiveness.

This is the same chemical which is linked to other positive health benefits such as preventing cancer and heart disease.

Study leader Dr Michael Seidman said, “Our latest study focuses on resveratrol and its effect on the body’s response to injury – something that is believed to be the cause of many health problems including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, ageing and hearing loss.  Resveratrol is a very powerful chemical that seems to protect against the body’s inflammatory process, as it relates to
ageing, cognition [brain function] and hearing loss.”

He added, “We’ve shown that by giving animals resveratrol, we can reduce the amount of hearing and cognitive decline.”