Renee Hislop

Citation

Thesis Title
The effect of estrogen and progesterone on sex differences in susceptibility to noise induced hearing loss

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Female sex hormones mediate auditory function, but their role in noise induced hearing loss is poorly understood. After noise exposure, our hearing adapts and is temporarily dulled. Ms Hislop investigated whether there is a sex difference in the size and recovery rate of this temporary hearing loss. No difference was found in the initial hearing loss, but females showed slower recovery. She also assessed whether hearing loss and recovery are related to estrogen and progesterone levels in females and found that high progesterone levels predicted less temporary loss. The research also investigated whether hormonal information could improve the ability to predict which individuals are more likely to obtain a large noise induced hearing loss and how these predictions might be used within an occupational hearing loss prevention programme. The findings demonstrate that caution is required when using hormonal information to help determine who is at greater risk of noise induced hearing loss.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Ian Laird
Professor Stephen Legg
Dr Stuart McLaren
Associate Professor Dianne Gardner