Aging is one of the most prevalent indicators of hearing loss, and let’s face it, try as we may, we can’t avoid aging. Sure, coloring your hair might make you look younger, but it doesn’t really change your age. But you might not know that numerous treatable health conditions have also been associated with hearing loss. Let’s take a look at some examples that might surprise you.
1. Diabetes can affect your hearing
So it’s fairly well recognized that diabetes is associated with an increased risk of hearing loss. But why would diabetes put you at a higher risk of developing hearing loss? Science is at somewhat of a loss here. Diabetes is known to harm the kidneys, eyes, and extremities. One theory is that the condition might affect the ears in a similar way, destroying blood vessels in the inner ear. But it could also be related to general health management. A 2015 study that looked at U.S. military veterans highlighted the link between hearing loss and diabetes, but in particular, it found that those with uncontrolled diabetes, in other words, people who aren’t managing their blood sugar or alternatively treating the disease, suffered worse outcomes. It’s significant to get your blood sugar tested if you believe you might have overlooked diabetes or are prediabetic. And, it’s a good idea to get in touch with us if you think your hearing may be compromised.
2. Increased danger of falling associated with hearing loss
Why would your chance of falling go up if you have hearing loss? Our sense of balance is, to some extent, regulated by our ears. But there are other reasons why falling is more likely if you have hearing loss. Research was carried out on participants with hearing loss who have recently had a fall. Though this study didn’t explore the cause of the subjects’ falls, the authors speculated that having difficulty hearing what’s around you (and missing important sounds such as a car honking) could be one issue. At the same time, if you’re working hard to pay close attention to the sounds around you, you may be distracted to your environment and that might also result in a higher danger of falling. The good news here is that managing hearing loss could potentially reduce your risk of suffering a fall.
3. Protect your hearing by controlling high blood pressure
High blood pressure and hearing loss have been closely linked in some studies indicating that high blood pressure might accelerate hearing loss due to the aging process. Obviously, this isn’t the kind of comforting news that makes your blood pressure go down. Even when variables like noise exposure or smoking are taken into consideration, the connection has persistently been found. (Please don’t smoke.) The only variable that is important appears to be sex: The connection between hearing loss and high blood pressure is even stronger if you’re a male.
Your ears have a close relation to your circulatory system. In addition to the many tiny blood vessels inside of your ear, two of the body’s main arteries go right by it. This is one reason why individuals who have high blood pressure often suffer from tinnitus, the pulsing they’re hearing is actually their own blood pumping. When your tinnitus symptoms are the result of your own pulse, it’s known as pulsatile tinnitus. But high blood pressure could also potentially cause physical damage to your ears, that’s the leading theory behind why it would speed up hearing loss. Every beat of your heart will have more pressure if it’s pumping blood harder. That could potentially harm the smaller blood arteries inside of your ears. Through medical intervention and lifestyle improvement, it is possible to manage high blood pressure. But even if you don’t think you’re old enough for age-related hearing loss, if you’re having trouble hearing, you should contact us for a hearing test.
4. Hearing loss and dementia
It’s scary stuff, but it’s significant to mention that while the link between hearing loss and cognitive decline has been well documented, scientists have been less successful at figuring out why the two are so powerfully linked. A common idea is that having difficulty hearing can cause people to stay away from social situations and that social withdrawal, and lack of mental stimulation, can be incapacitating. The stress of hearing loss straining the brain is another theory. In other words, because your brain is putting so much energy into comprehending the sounds around you, you may not have much juice left for remembering things like where you left your keys. Maintaining social ties and doing crosswords or “brain games” could help here, but so can managing hearing loss. Social situations will be easier when you can hear clearly and instead of battling to hear what people are saying, you can focus on the essential stuff.
Schedule 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/