Tinnitus causes depression

Many tinnitus sufferers are afflicted by depression because of the condition, new research shows.

Tinnitus - ringing, crackling or buzzing in the ear that does not come from an outside source - affects one in 50 New Zealanders to the point where it affects their daily lives. It can strike at any age.

Some children grow up with it, and some young people develop it after damaging their hearing. About 40 per cent of New Zealanders older than 60 suffer from tinnitus.

A University of Otago study of 338 sufferers found that at least half had tinnitus-related depression, the National Foundation for the Deaf reported yesterday.

Tinnitus can be caused by physical trauma, excessive noise and ageing. It can develop after an injury, illness, infection or stress, through raised blood pressure, as a side-effect of a drug or because of wax in the ears.

However, scientists have yet to discover what causes the sounds the sufferer hears.

- NZPA