posted
Has anyone been tested for the 1555A-G mutation? Apparently people with this mutation are susceptible to deafness from aminoglucoside antibiotics (irreversible!). Classes of antibiotics are listed below. ARUP does the tests ...
Hearing Loss Due To Antibiotics May Be Prevented By Genetically Screening Patients Beforehand
Article Date: 20 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT
Some patients have a genetic mutation which means they are more at risk of hearing loss after taking antibiotics called aminoglycosides. Experts, writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) believe that screening patients for this genetic mutation may prevent this.
The writers, Maria Bitner-Glindzicz and Shamima Rahman, the Institute of Child health, London, England, explain that aminoglycosides are valuable antibiotics for such serious infections as complicated urinary tract infections, tuberculosis and septicemia. They are known to potentially cause damage to the ear (otoxicity). However, what isn't well known is that there are people who have an inherited predisposition that makes them extremely sensitive to the effects - they can end up with severe and permanent hearing loss.
Approximately 5% of deafness in children in the UK is caused by this mutation, known as m.1555A-G. About 1 in 40,000 people in the UK have this mutation. Studies in other countries have indicated much higher incidences, in New Zealand it is thought to occur in 1 in 206 cases of newborns, and 1 in 1,161 in the USA (also newborns).
Families carrying this mutation, even if they never take aminoglycosides, may develop some degree of deafness later in life.
A study carried out in Spain found that 27% of families which included two deaf people were positive for this mutation. It was also found that everybody who had this mutation in Spain and took aminoglycosides suffered from hearing loss. A person who had taken aminoglycosides had a 96.5% of becoming deaf by the age of 30 if he/she had been exposed to aminoglycosides, while 38.9% of those who had never taken it became deaf.
The authors write that aminoglycosides are a major environmental modifier of the m.1555A-G mutation.
It is possible to prevent deafness brought on by aminoglycosides in individuals who have this genetic mutation, explain the authors. Doctors who have patients who are deaf are well aware of this mutation. Many doctors, however, do not know about this susceptibility, and many others do not know that mutation testing is available.
blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
this is an interesting find. I took gentamicin for a few weeks. I think my hearing could have been slightly affeted, but nothing really noticable. More like, the TV just gets turned up a few more notches.
I think I may have had endocarditis from bart and that treatment took care of it. Worth it to me. But, if I had this information and tested positive for the gene, I would have thought twice about taking it.
Good find.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Damage to the ears can affect every other system of our body - it's far more than just hearing. Just consider:
thanks so much for posting that article, I'm VERY Interested in all matters of the ears as mine have taken so many hits.
I'll copy this thread over the Tinnitus thread where there's a growing collection of ear links and many links regarding Ototoxic and Vestibular toxic substances.
Liver and kidney dysfunction can also make an otherwise non-ototoxic drug toxic to one's ears. Just another reason why liver support is so very important.
By the way, aspirin can damage anyone's ears. The book by Bauman, listed at this thread is very illuminating:
You're welcome. My ears were hit hard ~ 4 years ago with sudden tinnitus that has not gone away. My first audiology test showed moderate to severe hearing loss in L ear (side with T). Right ear was normal. Within a few months I noticed the L was coming back some, but then the R ear went down. So, now I have hearing loss in both ears (moderate), and it seems to fluctuate. This past week after a few days of low dose Flagyl I noticed another sound beginning in addition to the tinnitus, more of a hum or buzz (like a motor). In addition, the L ear was worse for several days. I had a flare up (or virus) last Spring that caused me to go nearly deaf for one night (scary!)
See my most recent post. Meniere's is believed to be caused by one or more of the Herpes viruses. I don't actually have vertigo, only had an episode one night after tan ENT vacuumed out my ears (talk about ear trauma - the tinnitus was screeching for awhile after that and ears very painful). Although I don't have Meniere's, I suspect my ear issues are viral. In one study, Meniere's patients got rid of the vertigo with anti-virals. Not sure if hearing would come back with anti-viral treatment, but wouldn't that be great!
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