You can end up in the hospital if you don’t properly treat your hearing loss symptoms. I know that sounds like an exaggeration. We’re used to thinking of hearing loss as little more than a hassle – something that makes the news a bit harder to hear or, at worst, makes you unknowingly agree to something you didn’t mean.
But new research is sounding an alarm over the long-term health impacts of neglected hearing loss.
How is Your Health Linked to Hearing Loss?
At first sight, hearing loss doesn’t appear to have much to do with other health concerns. But research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that neglected hearing loss can result in a 50% increase in visits to the hospital over time. The chance of serious health issues goes up the longer hearing loss goes untreated.
That’s a curious finding: what does hearing have to do with your general health? The answer is challenging.
Hearing Health And Mental Health
Untreated hearing loss has been connected with a number of other health problems, like:
- Higher instance of depression and anxiety. Basically, the chance of depression and anxiety increases with hearing loss and that will lead to health problems both physical and mental.
- Balance problems. Hearing loss can make it more difficult to keep your balance and maintain situational awareness.
- You begin to lose your memory. In fact, your odds of getting dementia is twice as high with neglected hearing loss.
Hearing Aids: A Real Answer
There’s some good news though. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research suggests that up to 75% of hearing loss related cognitive decline can be stopped in its tracks by one simple solution: wearing a hearing aid.
Wearing a hearing aid has a profound impact on mitigating the dangers connected to neglected hearing loss. According to the study, individuals who wore hearing aids for only two weeks saw:
- Brain function improvements.
- Awareness and balance improvements.
- Traumatic brain injury reductions.
The researchers from Johns Hopkins studied data from 77,000 patients accumulated over about two decades. And what they found is staggeringly simple: safeguarding your hearing is crucial to preserving your health. Being sick can be costly, so caring for your hearing also protects your financial well being.
Preserving Your Hearing And Your Health
Hearing loss is not exclusive to getting older but it is a part of it. Because of accidents, disease, and occupational hazards, hearing loss can happen regardless of how old you are.
However or whenever you lose your hearing, it’s really important to deal with it. Your health could depend on it.