Health
Women may hear better than men, new study suggests
The old adage is that moms have eyes in the back of their heads, but a new study shows that women in general may also have more sensitive hearing.
The study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, sought to examine the correlation between multiple factors — including gender, age and region, among others — and hearing sensitivity.
Patricia Balaresque, Ph.D., at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research in Toulouse, France, led a team of scientists to conduct hearing tests on 448 individuals from 13 global communities in Ecuador, England, Gabon, South Africa and Uzbekistan.
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The results show that hearing sensitivity is primarily influenced by gender and environment, followed by age and left versus right ear.
“Our findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to consider both biological and environmental factors when studying hearing,” Balaresque said in a press release.
A new study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that women may have more sensitive hearing. (iStock)
Scientists measured hearing sensitivity using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), which assess the cochlea’s ability to produce and transmit an acoustic response after sound stimulation.
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The cochlea is a fluid-filled, spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear that converts sound waves into electrical impulses that the brain can interpret, medical sources state.
By analyzing TEOAE profiles, researchers gained valuable insights into how the cochlea responds to external auditory stimuli.
Scientists measured hearing sensitivity by recording the tiny sounds subjects’ inner ears sent back in response to clicking sounds. (iStock)
To calculate hearing sensitivity, a small device played a clicking sound into the ear of test subjects and then recorded the tiny sounds the inner ear sent back in response, the study findings detailed.
These returning signals, which are created by cells in the cochlea, provide a reliable indication of how sensitive the ear is to sound.
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The researchers then examined the signals, including how strong they were (measured in decibels, a unit used to convey the relative intensity or loudness of a sound) and which frequencies the ear responded to most strongly.
They also compared variations based on a variety of factors, including subjects’ sex, age, ear being tested, and the type of environment they lived in.
The fact that women showed higher sensitivity means that hearing may be an actual biological factor, according to researchers. (iStock)
Throughout the testing, women consistently showed a higher sensitivity, by an average of two decibels across all populations sampled.
“We were surprised to find that women had two decibels more sensitive hearing across all the populations we measured, and this accounted for most of the variations between individuals,” said study co-author Turi King, professor and director of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, in the release.
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“This could be due to different exposure to hormones during development in the womb, due to men and women having slight structural differences in cochlear anatomy.”
Women also perform better in other hearing tests and speech perception, which indicates that their brains are better at processing information, according to King.
“Having more sensitive hearing in noisy environments may not always be a good thing.”
“We don’t really know why this might be, but given the detrimental effect of noise on overall health, such as sleep quality and increased cardiovascular disease, having more sensitive hearing in noisy environments may not always be a good thing,” she added.
While differences in age were also a factor in hearing sensitivity (with old age linked to worse hearing), it was less pronounced than the differences between sexes.
People in urban environments had hearing profiles that shifted to higher frequencies, perhaps due to the constant lower sounds of the city, the study suggests. (iStock)
Other findings in the study included the way ecological environments can impact hearing sensitivity.
For those in urban environments, hearing profiles shifted to higher frequencies, which could be due to the constant low hum of traffic and city noises in urban environments, scientists hypothesized.
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The greatest contrast was found between groups living in high-altitude populations versus tropical environments, with the latter having a higher sensitivity to hearing.
This could be a result of living in areas with fewer humans in the environment, or an inherited trait from the sort of wild environment where vigilance is essential for survival, the researchers noted.
Professor King added, “We know that humans are continuing to evolve, so the next question is whether our hearing is able to change in response to different environments generally or whether there are genetic adaptations involved.”
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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