Heart and hearing health are connected.
Did you know there is a connection between hearing health and heart health? The body is full of individual systems that are more intertwined than you might imagine. Practicing healthy habits often benefits your body in more ways than you'd expect.
Learn about that link and what you can do to strengthen both your hearing health and your cardiovascular health.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States, representing in one in four deaths every year. The good news is that many forms of heart disease can be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices.
The terms heart disease and cardiovascular disease are often used interchangeably. They describe a range of diseases and conditions that affect your heart.
Symptoms can vary based on the type of heart disease, but many are common across all types. These include:
Heart disease, like many other conditions, is easier to treat when detected early. Seek medical care if you experience one or more of these symptoms, especially if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease.
Although anyone could be at risk for heart disease, there are some risk factors that may make you more likely to develop a heart condition. Risk factors that are out of your control include:
Other risk factors can be controlled by making healthy lifestyle choices. The following can increase your chances of developing heart disease:
Taking steps to eliminate unnecessary risk factors from your life can go a long way toward preventing heart disease. Here are several known ways to improve heart health:
The link between heart disease and hearing loss has been well established for years. Simply put, it’s all about blood flow. The inner ears are extremely sensitive to blood flow. Heart problems can cause a buildup of plaque in the arteries and restrict blood flow, which also causes irreversible damage to the ear. Also, the delicate nerves in the cochlea play an important role in translating noise in your ears to electrical impulses to your brain. Poor circulation can reduce adequate oxygen, causing damage to these nerves.
David R. Friedland, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences at Medical College of Wisconsin, explains, “The inner ear is so sensitive to blood flow that it is possible that abnormalities in the cardiovascular system could be noted here earlier than in other less sensitive parts of the body.”
In 2010, researchers Raymond H. Hull and Stacy R. Kerschen published a review of more than 60 years of research, finding that impaired heart health has a negative impact, particularly in older adults. Similarly, improved heart health has a positive influence on hearing health.
Research from Miami University shows that an active lifestyle can play a big part in a healthy cardiovascular system, including regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy diet and keeping blood pressure in a good range. The higher the level of cardiovascular fitness, the better the hearing of the study’s older participants.
In summary, improving cardiovascular health has been shown to reduce your risk of hearing loss.
In addition to maintaining heart-healthy habits, it’s important to regularly monitor your hearing. Considering the well-established link between heart disease and hearing loss, it’s recommended that anyone over the age of 40 get an annual hearing test as part of their routine medical screening. If it’s found that you do have hearing loss, hearing aids are the most common treatment option.
Expert Charles E. Bishop, AuD, Assistant Professor in the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, stresses the importance of considering your hearing health as an important part of your overall health. “Hearing health should not be assessed in a vacuum,” he says. “There is simply too much evidence that hearing loss is related to cardiovascular disease and other health conditions. It’s time we maximized the information we have in order to benefit the individual’s overall well-being.”
