Supplements may help hearing loss

A U.S. study says a combination of anti-oxidants and minerals may help prevent hearing loss.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that guinea pigs who were given an anti-oxidant-mineral combination were protected from hearing damage for days after exposure to loud noise, the university said in a release.
The report says the findings could lead to the development of a nutrition bar that would protect soldiers from battle-related hearing loss.
Guinea pigs were given high doses of vitamins A, C, and E and magnesium one hour before noise exposure and continued as a once-daily treatment for five days.
Josef M. Miller, a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the UM Medical School is the senior author of the study, published online in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. He has launched a startup company, OtoMedicine, that is developing the vitamin-and-magnesium formulation.
"Ultimately, we envision soldiers would have a nutritional bar with meals and it would give them adequate daily protection," said Miller.