Dr. Konstantina Stankovic

Diverge, yeah.

Such that men have... Higher thresholds, which means worse hearing.

On average.

That is now being studied because anything can be a treatment and a poison.

So whatever you are using, you have to look at pros and cons.

And hormone replacement therapy can be very helpful in certain situations and also carries risks in other situations.

And it's having that discussion of what are the pros and cons for a given individual and does it make sense.

And the discussion that we are having really highlights the need for having more types of these studies.

However, the good news is that losing hearing as we age is not necessarily a given.

There are tribes in Africa where they're not exposed to modern, loud environments, and they have normal hearing even into their 80s.

So environment clearly plays a very important role, plus everything else that we take, which includes all sorts of drugs.

For example, we and others have shown that regular intake of alcohol

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen increases the likelihood of developing hearing loss.

And what is regular use?

It's at least twice a week.

For all ages.

That's been studied in men and women.

For younger people, it seems like they are a little more vulnerable.

The good news is that most of that hearing loss is reversible.

But there are other medications that affect our hearing.