Aging is one of the most common indicators of hearing loss, and let’s face it, try as we may, we can’t escape aging. You can take some steps to look younger but you’re still aging. But you might not know that a number of treatable health conditions have also been associated with hearing loss. Let’s have a look at some examples that might be surprising.
1. Diabetes could impact your hearing
The fact that hearing loss and diabetes have a connection is pretty well established. But why would diabetes put you at a higher risk of suffering from hearing loss? Well, science doesn’t provide all the answers here. Diabetes is linked to a wide range of health issues, and specifically, can cause physical harm to the eyes, kidneys, and extremities. Blood vessels in the inner ear might, theoretically, be getting destroyed in a similar way. But general health management could also be a consideration. A 2015 study that looked at U.S. military veterans underscored the link between hearing loss and diabetes, but in particular, it found that those with unchecked diabetes, in other words, individuals who aren’t managing their blood sugar or otherwise managing the disease, suffered worse outcomes. It’s significant to get your blood sugar tested if you believe you may have undiagnosed diabetes or are prediabetic. By the same token, if you have difficulty hearing, it’s a good idea to contact us.
2. Increased risk of falling associated with hearing loss
Why would your risk of falling increase if you have hearing loss? Though our ears play an important part in helping us balance, there are other reasons why hearing loss may get you down (in this case, quite literally). Participants with hearing loss who have had a fall were the participants of a recent study. Although this study didn’t explore the cause of the subjects’ falls, the authors suspected that having trouble hearing what’s around you (and missing crucial sounds such as a car honking) could be one problem. At the same time, if you’re working hard to pay close attention to the sounds around you, you could be distracted to your environment and that could also lead to a higher chance of falling. The good news here is that treating hearing loss could potentially reduce your danger of suffering a fall.
3. Manage high blood pressure to safeguard your hearing
Multiple studies have revealed that hearing loss is connected to high blood pressure, and some have discovered that high blood pressure may actually speed up age-related hearing loss. This kind of news might make you feel like your blood pressure is actually rising. But it’s a link that’s been found rather consistently, even when controlling for variables like noise exposure and whether you’re a smoker. (Please don’t smoke.) The only variable that makes a difference seems to be sex: If you’re a man, the connection between high blood pressure and hearing loss is even stronger.
Your ears aren’t a component of your circulatory system, but they’re really close to it. Along with the many tiny blood vessels inside your ear, two of the body’s primary arteries go right by it. The sound that people hear when they have tinnitus is frequently their own blood pumping as a consequence of high blood pressure. When your tinnitus symptoms are due to your own pulse, it’s known as pulsatile tinnitus. The primary theory why high blood pressure can cause hearing loss is that it can actually do physical damage to the vessels in the ears. If your heart is pumping harder, there’s more pressure behind each beat. The little arteries in your ears could possibly be damaged as a result. High blood pressure can be managed through both lifestyle improvements and medical interventions. But even if you don’t think you’re old enough for age-related hearing loss, if you’re having trouble hearing, you should give us a call for a hearing test.
4. Cognitive decline and hearing loss
Even though a strong connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss has been well established, scientists are still not altogether sure what the connection is. The most widespread concept is that people with neglected hearing loss tend to retreat from social interaction and become debilitated by lack of stimulus. Another theory is that hearing loss overloads your brain. In other words, because your brain is putting so much energy into comprehending the sounds around you, you might not have much energy left for remembering things like where you left your keys. Playing “brain games” and keeping your social life intact can be really helpful but the best thing you can do is treat your hearing loss. If you’re able to hear well, social scenarios are easier to deal with, and you’ll be able to focus on the important stuff instead of attempting to figure out what somebody just said.
Make an appointment with us as soon as possible if you think you may be experiencing hearing loss.
References
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2018/8541638/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1808869415310016
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3889339/
