Scientists believe they will be able to help older people with hearing difficulties using injections, but not for another decade.

By the age of 65, a third of people have some degree of hearing loss, which can lead to social isolation and has been linked to depression and dementia.

Hearing loss in old age is up to 55% inherited, running in families, but only two of the genes behind it had previously been identified.

Now the largest genetic study of hearing loss in older age, including more than a quarter of a million people in the UK, has found 44. 

Professor Frances Williams, who co-led the study from King’s College London, said, “Older people being given injections into their ears to switch genes in the cochlea [part of the inner ear] on or off is about ten years away, and there is the possibility gene editing could be used too.

Hearing loss is increasing because of the ageing population but hearing aids do not work well for many. Finding a better way to treat age-related hearing loss could transform lives.”

The study is based on more than 250,000 people aged 40 to 69 from the UK Biobank genetic database.