Healthy Heart and Healthy Hearing Part 1

It is a well known and often advertised fact that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death among Americans. Cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association, accounts for more than one-third of all deaths in America annually. What is not quite as well know is the fact that healthy cardiovascular health can be of great benefit to healthy hearing in older Americans. A recent study published in the Journal of Audiology has determined there is a significant correlation between a healthy heart and healthy hearing during aging.

One of the most essential parts of the body, related to hearing, is the cochlea. This is a small snail-shaped tube full of fluid and millions of hair cells which converts sound waves into nerve impulses, transmitting the impulses directly into the brain. If there is an injury to the cochlea or damage to the blood vessels which support the cochlea, hearing can be dramatically decreased. In a study called the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss, conducted in 2002, more than one thousand patients between the ages of 52 and 97 were tested for cochlear function. The study discovered patients with a history of cardiovascular problems were, on average, over 50 percent more likely to have hearing loss due to decreased cochlear function. More concerning facts were discovered by the study, including the fact close to 80 of those patients who had experienced a heart attack had some form of hearing loss.

Share and Enjoy: