Let’s face it, there’s no escape from aging, and with it usually comes hearing loss. Sure, dyeing your hair may make you look younger, but it doesn’t actually change your age. But did you know that hearing loss has also been connected to health problems associated with aging that are treatable, and in some instances, avoidable? Let’s have a look at some examples that may surprise you.

1. Diabetes could impact your hearing

The fact that hearing loss and diabetes have a connection is fairly well understood. But why would you have a higher danger of experiencing hearing loss if you have diabetes? Science is at a bit of a loss here. Diabetes has been known to damage the kidneys, eyes, and extremities. One idea is that the condition might affect the ears in a similar way, damaging blood vessels in the inner ear. But general health management could also be a factor. A 2015 study revealed that individuals with neglected diabetes had worse outcomes than people who were treating and managing their diabetes. If you are worried that you may be prediabetic or have overlooked diabetes, it’s important to talk with a doctor and have your blood sugar screened. By the same token, if you have trouble hearing, it’s a good idea to contact us.

2. Increased risk of falling associated with hearing loss

Why would having trouble hearing cause a fall? Our sense of balance is, to some extent, managed by our ears. But there are other reasons why falls are more likely if you have hearing loss. Individuals with hearing loss who have had a fall were the participants of a recent study. The study didn’t detail the cause of the falls but it did conjecture that missing essential sounds, such as a car honking, could be a huge part of the cause. But it might also go the other way, if difficulty hearing means you’re paying more attention to sounds than to your surroundings, it could be easy to stumble and fall. Fortunately, your danger of having a fall is reduced by having your hearing loss treated.

3. Protect your hearing by treating high blood pressure

Several studies have shown that hearing loss is connected to high blood pressure, and some have found that high blood pressure could actually accelerate age-related hearing loss. Clearly, this is not the sort of reassuring news that makes your blood pressure drop. Even when variables like noise exposure or smoking are taken into account, the link has persistently been found. (You should never smoke!) Gender appears to be the only important variable: The link between hearing loss and high blood pressure is even stronger if you’re a man.

Your ears aren’t part of your circulatory system, but they’re darn close to it. Along with the many tiny blood vessels inside your ear, two of the body’s principal 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 caused by your own pulse, it’s called pulsatile tinnitus. The leading theory why high blood pressure can lead to hearing loss is that it can actually cause physical harm to the vessels in the ears. Every beat of your heart will have more pressure if it’s pumping blood harder. The small arteries in your ears could possibly be harmed as a result. High blood pressure can be managed through both lifestyle modifications and medical treatments. 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. Hearing loss and cognitive decline

Even though a strong link between cognitive decline and hearing loss has been well established, scientists are still not entirely certain what the connection is. The most prevalent theory is that people with neglected hearing loss often withdraw from social interaction and become debilitated by lack of stimulus. Another theory is that hearing loss taxes your brain. In other words, because your brain is putting so much energy into understanding the sounds around you, you might not have much juice left for remembering things like where you put your keys. Preserving 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 might be experiencing hearing loss.

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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/