The Connection Between Hearing Loss And Overall Physical Health

Experiencing hearing loss can impact on your day-to-day life more than you might expect, as it can limit your independence and put a cap on your ability to communicate and express yourself. Not only can it affect your emotions and the way that you feel mentally, it can also impact on your general health and well-being too. This is something that lots of people fail to recognize, so it’s important to understand the connection between hearing loss and overall physical health.

Fortunately, this handy guide is filled to the brim with information that you can make the most of to learn more about hearing loss and health. Read on to understand how both are connected!

Susceptibility for Many Forms of Cognitive Decline

Unfortunately, undiagnosed and untreated hearing loss can eventually lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive decline, as your brain simply isn’t getting the stimulation it needs to thrive. Removing yourself from all types of conversation can wreak havoc for your mind, as you’ll have nothing to keep you busy and will find it difficult to utilize your key thinking skills. Properly managing your hearing loss from the very beginning of its decline should be a main priority if you want to minimize the likelihood of dementia or Alzheimer’s in later life, and lifestyle changes are required to ensure you can still get the stimulation your brain needs to cope.

Increased Risk of Developing Diabetes

Diabetes can be a life changing condition, and unfortunately it would appear that there is some kind of connection between diabetes and hearing loss. A number of investigations and studies have shown that the prevalence of hearing loss in people with diabetes was more than twice that of people who do not have the disease. Experts currently believe that this is due to the vascular effects of diabetes, as it would appear to cause damage to the blood supply to the inner ear, which in turn results in sensorineural hearing loss. There’s a notable increased risk of experiencing hearing loss if you have diabetes, so this is something you should bear in mind.

Heart Disease Can Trigger Hearing Loss

Years of in-depth research into the world of health and hearing loss has shown a connection between cardiovascular diseases and overall hearing health. The risk of hearing impairment is far greater for those who suffer from a condition known as atherosclerosis, which essentially hardens a person’s arteries, than for people without any kind of blood vessel disease. The blood vessels that are inside your inner ear require an oxygen-rich nutrient supply if they’re going to be able to function normally, and heart disease amongst other heart health problems can really inhibit this.

Greater Risk of Slips and Falls in Older Adults

Unfortunately, hearing loss can lead to an increase in the risk of tripping, slipping or falling over quite considerably. Even mild hearing loss can dramatically increase the risk of an accidental fall, and this is a serious matter due to the death rates in older adults related to falls increasing faster than ever in recent years. Hearing loss can negatively impact your balance due to a number of different reasons.

People are less aware of their surroundings when they cannot hear clearly, which in turn means that spatial awareness decreases. This makes it much harder to determine where your body is in relation to nearby objects, or for you to properly acknowledge certain risks or dangers. The brain has to use more resources to help you listen and interpret speech and sound, which unfortunately means that fewer resources are available for balance when you’re experiencing hearing loss.

It’s clear to see that there are many real connections between hearing loss and your overall health and well-being. Numerous conditions can worsen your hearing loss or encourage you to fall victim to additional side effects, so it’s vital that you can take great care of your health while also looking after your hearing at the same time.

Learning how to take great care of your health to promote top quality hearing doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, our friendly team can help to point you in the right direction, helping you to figure out what lifestyle changes you can make to protect your hearing for years to come. So, if you’d like to learn more today, then reach out to one of our hearing instrument specialists at Hearing At Home Hearing Center by calling (540) 534-0070 now!