Hearing loss is often associated with increasing age. For those of you with family members or friends with hearing issues, this can be very frustrating for not just the person experiencing the hearing problem but also the people around him/her that needs to raise their voices to be understood. Heating aids can certainly help the issue but there are many heating impaired folks that do not get 100% improvement from the hearing aids or are too proud to wear them.
A study on the association between hearing loss and obesity among women aged 18-40 years demonstrates that obesity may affect hearing function. In particular the ability to hear high frequencies seems to be negatively connected to obesity.
The results suggest that obesity may negatively impact hearing function and thereby points to the fact that hearing loss as a result of obesity can be prevented by avoidance or control of obesity and its risk factors.
Our inner ears are a complex system of semi-circular tubes filled with fluid and nerve endings. One of the main components of the auditory system is hair cells, which are responsible for detecting sound, translating it into electrical signals and transmitting it to the brain for interpretation.
Studies indicate healthy blood flow and oxygen contribute to the health of these hair cells. Since obesity strains the walls of your capillaries, they struggle to transport oxygen to hair cells efficiently. Once these hair cells are damaged, they cannot be regenerated and hearing loss is permanent.
There are many, many reasons to be focused on your weight control efforts. Healthy hearing can be added to this very long list.
And here is a Christmas music classic by Carrie Underwood: “Do You Hear What Hear?”
