Hearing is a precious resource! Although there are constantly improving ways to assist hearing if it is lost, the body does not naturally regenerate the tiny hair-like structures of the inner ear where sounds are sensed. These hairs can easily be damaged by exposure to harsh noise, but they also deteriorate due to the natural process of sound exposure through the life course. With such a delicate system in place, it is remarkable that we …
How Exercise, Diet, Sleep, and Hearing Affect Brain Aging
Aging is inevitable, but did you know that there are lifestyle changes you can make that can change the way you age? Living a healthy lifestyle can have a remarkable effect on our feeling of general wellbeing, including our mood, energy level, and social relationships. However, that healthy lifestyle could also have a dramatic effect on your ability to retain flexible cognition as you age. A recent report by Stephen M. Stahl, MD, PhD, an …
September is World Alzheimer’s Month
This month, let’s take a moment to acknowledge a condition that affects many people, either personally or through someone they love: Alzheimer’s disease. As we know, this condition is the most common form of dementia, a more general term for cognitive dysfunction that afflicts 50 million people worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease occurs most frequently later in life, but the “early onset” form of the condition can begin among people under the age of 65. The general …
Why are People Ashamed of Hearing Loss?
Due to the stigma of hearing loss, people who struggle with this condition may refrain from seeking treatment, believing that a hearing aid would make them look older or weaker. When hearing loss is left unaddressed, however, it will persist, and it may also lead to cognitive decline, social disengagement, and a variety of serious health issues. In waiting to seek treatment, or perhaps refusing to acknowledge your hearing loss altogether, you are placing both …
Does Tinnitus Cause Hearing Loss?
Tinnitus involves hearing noise in one or both ears that is not caused by an external sound. Tinnitus is common, but it is not a condition on its own. Rather, it is a symptom of another underlying condition. The noise of tinnitus often sounds like a ringing in the ears, but it can also be buzzing, clicking, roaring or hissing. Although severe tinnitus can interfere with your hearing, the condition does not cause hearing loss. …
Can Hearing Loss Be Restored?
If you or a loved one has recently started to experience the effects of hearing loss, you are far from alone in the United States. Across the country, around 15% of adults experience some degree of hearing loss, which adds up to almost 40 million people. Sometimes, depending on your type of hearing loss, your hearing can be restored. While the most common causes of hearing loss are irreversible there are treatments out there that …
Osteoporosis and Sudden Hearing Loss
Osteoporosis is a progressive metabolic disorder where bone is broken down faster than the body can replace it. When this happens, your bones become quite weak and are then more prone to being broken. It is a relatively common disorder—it affects around 40 million men and women and, though it affects people of all races, it is particularly common amongst white and Asian women. This leads to bones being structurally weak, and more prone to …
Hearing Aids & Artificial Intelligence
When you read “artificial intelligence” you might be thinking aliens, science fiction, robots, and the end of the human race. In this day and age, artificial intelligence is actually very mundane. It is everywhere, from the factories that produce the goods we consume every day, to our delivery services, to our schools. Artificial intelligence makes robotic vacuum cleaners go, makes our exercise monitors and apps work, and makes our airplanes fly. This is because artificial …
Comorbidities of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is not only a loss of one single sense. It can appear along with other issues. Sometimes hearing loss is actually symptom or an outcome of another potentially more serious health issue. The issues and ailments that can accompany hearing loss, when simultaneously present and chronic, are called comorbidities. These comorbidities can include physical disorders like heart disease, thyroid disease, and diabetes. They can also include mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, …
How to Prevent Swimmers Ear
Now that summer time has arrived and temperatures are heating up, no doubt you and your family are on the look out for swimming pools, lakes, rivers and beaches to beat the heat. While the water is fun and relaxing it’s important to practice proper ear care hygiene to prevent the onset of swimmer’s ear. Below we discuss more about swimmer’s ear, how to prevent this common condition, and the best swimmer’s ear treatment. What …