Any evidence for ototoxicity?

[ramseyworld]

Hi friends,

This is my first post to this wonderful forum, I've been groggin' for I guess about a year now +/- (so far exclusively GHK) and recently have seen a couple websites claiming kava can cause "partial hearing loss." A pharmacist buddy of mine (who initially introduced me to kava) reassures me ototoxicity is unlikely in kava (he stops there and has never given me an explanation as to why he believes that...), and I've never seen it brought up by daily users on any forums, but I'm a career musician and sound engineer and am very protective of my hearing. One thing I have seen mentioned (and experienced first-hand) is the infamous ringing in the ears caused by kava—this is an indicator to me that kava is doing at least something to the ears.

Anyone know of any research that points either way or are there any long-term/daily users who can share experience?

Thanks a lot!

 

[verticity]

I have never heard that claim before.
Now, if you drink a lot of kava it can temporarily make you dizzy and off balance. Also, as you mention, sometimes it can cause ringing in the ears. But these are acute effects that wear off quickly when the kava leaves your system. I have never seen, or heard of, any evidence that kava can permanently harm your ears.
Maybe if you link to the web sites you are referring to, we can take a look and try to figure out what the claims are based on.

 

[verticity]

By the way,
Welcome to the Forum!

 

[ramseyworld]

Thanks!

And here are some links I saw:

This one covers a lot and contains a lot of info, but lacks sources:
http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2016/01/17/kava-side-effects-adverse-reactions-list/

This one has a list of sources, but doesn't cite specific claims within the article:
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/kava-kava

Lists partial hearing loss as a possible side effect and seems to have a citation (?)
https://books.google.com/books?id=2...AEITTAH#v=onepage&q=kava hearing loss&f=false

So, just from that quick search I'm not seeing any compelling evidence for ototoxicity, just unsubstantiated claims basically. But, as I mentioned, I'm paranoid about my hearing so I just wanted to see if anyone else had any info on this.

 

[verticity]

My favorite way to search for scientific papers online is Google Scholar. When I use it with the search terms "kava ototoxicity":
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=kava+ototoxicity
it turns up a bunch of hits, but none of them on the first couple pages appear to be relevant. Mostly they are review articles or books that happen to contain the words kava and ototoxicity in the same document, but are about ototoxicity due to something other than kava; or else papers about ototoxicity authored by someone named C.R. Kava...
I haven't looked at all the pages of search results...but my initial impression is there is nothing about kava causing ototoxicity in the scholarly literature.

 

[verticity]

With "kava hearing loss" I did find the attached paper that says:

But that is a secondary source, and there is not a reference for the "loss of hearing" (or the "hair loss") claim that I can find.

 

[verticity]

The attached "liver scare" warning from Canada cites "hearing loss" as a side effect of kava, but the source of the claim appears to be the same paper I posted above (i.e., the secondary source that does not cite a primary source for the claim).
So, not much really.

 

[verticity]

Maybe if you troll Google Scholar some more you could turn up a case report or something, but it is looking pretty dubious at this point.

 

[verticity]

Lists partial hearing loss as a possible side effect and seems to have a citation (?)
https://books.google.com/books?id=2KXWY6kPESUC&pg=PP20&lpg=PP20&dq=kava+hearing+loss&source=bl&ots=Ne5rB6Hp31&sig=ENdfCKSRMRk9XwM8HKer5mbET0I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPxteej_rOAhXHGx4KHd2aDj4Q6AEITTAH#v=onepage&q=kava hearing loss&f=false

I can't find the papers cited in that book...

 

[chandra]

With "kava hearing loss" I did find the attached paper that says:

View attachment 6850
But that is a secondary source, and there is not a reference for the "loss of hearing" (or the "hair loss") claim that I can find.

Assuming that this is accurate, it says "long term use at high doses". Then mentions doses at 100 times more than the recommended therapeutic dose. So my assumption is that even if this claim is true, that it would require very high doses of kava on a frequent basis to cause any damage.

 

[Zaphod]

HEARING LOSS? I HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY HEARING LOSS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM YELLING?!?

I can't say I have seen any serious papers on hearing loss and I scrolled through google scholar and any available NIH papers I could find on side effects before I jumped onto the Kava bandwagon. If anything it makes me more sensitive to sound during a session. I usually have to turn the music down.

 

[kavadude]

I have never seen it and I've read post of the kava papers out there. It does make one more sensitive to sounds, I think, but only while the kavalactones are in your system. (Sometimes I have bad sound sensitivity in the morning after drinking a lot of kava, but if I stop for a day it's totally gone).

 

[kavadude]

There was also a fellow on here who claimed that kava helped with his tinnitus which was bad after serving in the artillery.

I added it as both a side effect and a potential benefit (e.g. it could get worse or better) in the Kava Census: https://census.kavachat.com/#benefits

But most people report no changes.

 

[ramseyworld]

Awesome, thanks ya'll! I very quickly fell in love with kava and was worried for a bit there I'd have to stop using it — I prefer it to alcohol and basically don't drink anymore Seems like there's nothing to worry about as long as I stay in the realm of moderation.

Bula!

 

[verticity]

HEARING LOSS? I HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY HEARING LOSS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM YELLING?!?

I can't say I have seen any serious papers on hearing loss and I scrolled through google scholar and any available NIH papers I could find on side effects before I jumped onto the Kava bandwagon. If anything it makes me more sensitive to sound during a session. I usually have to turn the music down.

WHAT??