The effects of 'supra-physiological' vitamin B12 administration on temporary threshold shift

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The aim of this study was to evaluate, in 20 young volunteer subjects, the effects of supra-physiological vitamin B12 administration on noise-induced temporary threshold shift (TTS).

Why It Was Studied

All subjects had hearing thresholds within 15 dBHL and type A tympanograms.

The subjects were randomly assigned to two different groups.

Who Took Part

The study group was 20 subjects.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, both men and women.

The vitamin B12 concentration, hearing thresholds and TTS2 (10 min of exposure, narrowband noise centred at 3 kHz, bandwidth of 775 Hz, 112 dBSPL) were measured before and 8 days after treatment.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) group a baseline to be compared against.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Analysis of Variance, Audiometry, Pure-Tone, Auditory Threshold, Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced, Noise and Vitamin B 12.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in 20 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2004 (International journal of audiology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, all human trials.