Your hearing health is linked to numerous other health concerns, from depression to dementia. Your hearing is connected to your health in the following ways.
1. your Hearing is Affected by Diabetes
A widely-cited study that observed over 5,000 adults determined that people who had been diagnosed with diabetes were twice as likely to experience mild or worse hearing impairment when tested with low- or mid-frequency sounds. With high-frequency sounds, hearing loss was not as severe but was also more likely. This same research revealed that individuals who had slightly elevated blood sugar levels (pre-diabetic) were 30% more likely to have hearing impairment. And even when controlling for other variables, a more recent meta-study revealed a consistent link between hearing loss and diabetes.
So it’s fairly well established that diabetes is related to an increased danger of hearing loss. But why would diabetes put you at an increased risk of experiencing hearing loss? When it comes to this, science doesn’t really have the answers. Diabetes is linked to a wide variety of health issues, and particularly, can cause physical damage to the eyes, kidneys, and extremities. It’s possible that diabetes has a similar harmful impact on the blood vessels of the inner ear. But it might also be associated with general health management. A study that observed military veterans highlighted the link between hearing loss and diabetes, but specifically, it revealed that those with unchecked diabetes, essentially, people who are not monitoring their blood sugar or otherwise treating the disease, suffered worse outcomes. If you are concerned that you may be pre-diabetic or have undiagnosed diabetes, it’s important to speak to a doctor and have your blood sugar tested.
2. Your Ears Can be Harmed by High Blood Pressure
It is well known that high blood pressure plays a part in, if not accelerates, hearing loss. The results are consistent even when controlling for variables like noise exposure and whether you’re a smoker. Gender seems to be the only variable that matters: If you’re a male, the link between high blood pressure and hearing loss is even stronger.
The ears and the circulatory system have a close relationship: In addition to the many tiny blood vessels in your ear, two of the body’s main arteries run right by it. This is one reason why people who have high blood pressure often suffer from tinnitus, the pulsing they’re hearing is actually their own blood pumping. That’s why this type of tinnitus is known as pulsatile tinnitus; you hear your pulse. But high blood pressure could also potentially lead to physical damage to your ears, that’s the main hypothesis behind why it would accelerate hearing loss. If your heart is pumping harder, there’s more force with every beat. That could potentially damage the smaller blood arteries in your ears. High blood pressure is manageable through both lifestyle changes and medical interventions. But you should schedule an appointment for a hearing exam if you think you are developing any degree of hearing impairment.
3. Dementia And Hearing Loss
Hearing loss might put you at a greater risk of dementia. Nearly 2000 individuals were examined over a six year period by Johns Hopkins University, and the study revealed that even with minor hearing loss (about 25 dB), the risk of dementia increases by 24%. Another study by the same researchers, which followed subjects over more than 10 years, discovered that the worse a subject’s hearing was, the more likely that he or she would develop dementia. This research also revealed that Alzheimer’s had an equivalent link to hearing loss. Moderate hearing loss puts you at 3 times higher risk, according to these findings, than someone with normal hearing. The danger goes up to 4 times with severe hearing loss.
It’s crucial, then, to have your hearing tested. Your health depends on it.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20373072
https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/741394/diabetes-hearing-impairment-united-states-audiometric-evidence-from-national-health
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/hearing-loss-common-people-diabetes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23150692
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4632848/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1108740
https://www.helpingmehear.com/hearing-aids-facts/
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2018/8541638/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3889339/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1808869415310016
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1558452
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/802291