Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who announced this week that he has lost his hearing, suffers from a rare ear disease and is being treated by specialists in Los Angeles, doctors said on Wednesday. 
Limbaugh, 50, whose daily radio program is heard by 22 million listeners on 600 stations a week, has been diagnosed with auto-immune inner ear disease (AIED), which causes less than one percent of all cases of hearing loss, according to a statement from the House Ear Clinic and Institute in Los Angeles. 
Doctors believe the ailment is caused by the body's immune system attacking the inner ear and damaging the hearing nerve. 
Physicians at the House Ear Clinic are treating Limbaugh with medication, and "there is some potential for surgical treatment as well," the statement said. "The physicians are confident that with the proper treatment, Mr. Limbaugh will be able to retain some of his hearing." 
The outspoken Florida-based radio host stunned listeners on Monday by announcing on his program, "I am, for all practical purposes, deaf," though he vowed to continue working. Limbaugh was back on the air Tuesday but took Wednesday off to consult with physicians in Los Angeles. 
A spokesman said he was due back at work Thursday, while doctors at the House Ear Clinic planned to hold a news conference to discuss Limbaugh's condition and treatment. Kraig T. Kitchin, president and chief operating officer of Premiere Radio Networks, which distributes Limbaugh's program, also planned to attend the briefing. 
Limbaugh in July signed a deal with Premiere, reportedly valued at $285 million, to keep his 13-year-old show on the air for another eight years. 
A spokeswoman for Premiere told Reuters the radio network, owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., was committed to keeping Limbaugh on the air through 2009. 
Limbaugh has said his hearing has steadily deteriorated since May when he discovered he heard nothing in his left ear. He said he can recognize sound but not identify it in his right ear. 
A number of observers have said the revelation about Limbaugh's deafness explained why the radio host had sounded different on the air in recent months. Some said they believed that calls into the show were being transcribed onto a TelePrompTer for Limbaugh to read.