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Hearing and Disease
Heart Disease
An individual with heart disease is 2X as likely to have hearing loss. If you take aspirin, heart medications, have had a pacemaker, bypass or stint you are at risk for hearing loss. If the ear can't get the blood and fluids it needs, the hearing can be compromised and reduced over time.
The ear is supplied by several small arteries and requires a sufficient and rich blood flow to maintain proper function. It is believed that CVD can reduce blood flow to the ear and in turn cause damage to different parts of the auditory system. This damage typically results in a sensorineural hearing loss which is permanent and often managed with amplification. (www.audiology.org)
Cancer
Some cancers and cancer treatments may cause hearing problems. These problems can include:
1. Hearing Loss-this can be mild or severe
2. Ringing in the ears-Tinnitus
Hearing loss and tinnitus can happen alone or together. They might go away after some time, or they might be lifelong.
Chemotherapy drugs are common culprits when it comes to cancer treatment and hearing loss, but other common medications can also lead to hearing loss and inner ear damage. Many cancer treatment regimens combine multiple ototoxic medications. As a result, the risk for hearing loss and tinnitus can increase dramatically.
Hearing problems can affect your quality of life. Tell your health care team about any hearing changes during or after any cancer treatment. It is important to relieve these side effects and any others you may have.
Diabetes
If you have diabetes you are 3X as likely to have hearing loss. Is your diabetes in check with medication, can you get it in check with monitoring your food intake? Food can be your medicine or your medicine can be your food (Socrates)
There are 133 million adults in the United States who have prediabetes, the rate of hearing loss is 30 percent higher than in those with normal blood glucose (blood sugar). www.diabetes.org
Dementia
If an individual has mild hearing loss their risk for dementia doubles, if they have
moderate hearing loss the risk triples and people with severe hearing impairment are 5X more likely to develop dementia.
If an individual has untreated hearing loss, they are using other parts of their brain that have other focuses, you should not be using your cognitive brain cells for hearing but that can happen if you don't amplify a hearing loss with hearing aids. You should use your cognitive brain cells for cognition and your hearing brain cells for hearing. If you have hearing loss and amplify with hearing aids this
will bring the hearing back to the auditory cortex.
One in 9 Americans suffer from cognitive impairment, that is 52 million Americans, 55% have not disclosed or discussed this issue with a medical professional. Dr. Strickland offers a cognitive screening.
If an individual does not get oxygen to the brain whether there is problems at birth or later in life because of airway obstruction there can be auditory processing difficulties and hearing loss. Hearing loss correlates with the degree of airway obstruction and hypoxia as well as the rate of annual COPD exacerbation (Dayem, et. al., 2017 Audiological assessment in patients with chronic pulmonary disease)
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