If you’re not treating your symptoms correctly, hearing loss can hospitalize you. I know that sounds like an exaggeration. We usually consider hearing loss as little more than a hassle – something that makes the news a bit more difficult to hear or, at worst, makes you unwittingly agree to something you didn’t mean.
But the long-term health effects of neglected hearing loss is beginning to get serious attention from researchers.
How is Your Health Linked to Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss doesn’t, at first glance, seem as if it has much of a relationship with other health concerns. But research carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that untreated hearing loss can result in a 50% increase in visits to the hospital over time. The longer the hearing loss goes unmanaged, the more significant the health havoc becomes.
That’s a curious finding: what does hearing have to do with your total health? The answer is complicated.
Hearing Health And Mental Health
Here are a number of the health concerns connected to hearing loss:
- You begin to lose your memory. As a matter of fact, your odds of getting dementia double with neglected hearing loss.
- An increase in depression and anxiety. Simply stated, neglected hearing loss can increase anxiety and depression, which in turn can have a powerfully negative effect on your physical body, to say nothing of your mental health.
- Balance problems. Hearing loss can make it more difficult to keep your balance and keep your situational awareness.
Hearing Aids: An effective Answer
There’s some good news though. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School research indicates that up to 75% of the cognitive decline linked to hearing loss can be halted by one simple solution: wearing a hearing aid.
Wearing a hearing aid has a profound impact on eliminating the dangers linked to neglected hearing loss. According to the research, individuals who wore hearing aids for only two weeks saw:
- Traumatic brain injury reductions.
- Improvements in balance and awareness.
- Brain function improvements.
The team from Johns Hopkins looked at data from 77,000 patients accumulated over around two decades. And a crucial part of maintaining your health lies in protecting your hearing which is a surprising conclusion. Being sick usually costs money, so caring for your hearing also protects your financial well being.
Caring For Your Health And Your Hearing
Hearing loss is a perfectly typical part of getting older, although it’s not exclusive to getting older. Due to accidents, occupational hazards, and disease, hearing loss can develop at any age.
However, it’s essential to address any hearing loss you might be experiencing. Your health could depend on it.