Women’s Health and Hearing Checkups

ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE HEARING ASSOCIATION (ASHA), HEARING LOSS AFFECTS 10 MILLION WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH 2.5 MILLION OF THOSE FEMALES UNDER THE AGE OF 45

of memory loss/dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, according to Dr. Frank Lin and colleagues from Johns Hopkins Institute, it is best to treat the hearing loss before these cognitive changes take place. When sounds are amplified to correct a hearing loss, neural stimulation is increased, maintaining neural integrity and reducing risk of neural atrophy.

Being hearing healthy is also related to being heart healthy. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death among women, but it also affects our hearing. A study by the Population Health Program Faculty at Wisconsin University found that women with heart disease were 2.7 times more likely to suffer from hearing loss than women in general. Other studies suggest that low activity levels, resulting in larger waist size, may also contribute to hearing loss in women. The Wisconsin University study concluded that even those who only exercised once/week reduced their risk of developing hearing loss by 32%.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH), in addition to having her tested on a regular basis and having her hearing loss treated as soon as a problem is diagnosed, women should consider health and hearing-friendly lifestyle choices, including regular exercise, good nutrition, preventive screening, getting enough sleep, and managing stress, among other proactive measures. Hearing conservation is an important step in preventing hearing loss. This includes reducing/ eliminating background noises whenever possible and utilizing hearing protection whenever loud noise exposure is unavoidable. Consider using earplugs when vacuuming the house or when using either your own personal hair dryer or when sitting under the hair dryer at your beauty salon.

Now that you are aware of the risks and the importance of preserving your hearing, make a commitment to have your hearing checked every year, just like you do your eyes and breasts. Address any issues in your hearing according to your physician or audiologist’s recommendations. Even if you have a mild hearing loss, hearing amplification can improve your quality of life and preserve your cognitive development. This would be a great week to schedule a hearing test with us at Better Hearing and Balance Connection, even if you don’t think you are having any hearing issues. Both Dr. Gretchen Magee, Au.D. and Dr. Shawn Key, Au.D. are available to examine your hearing abilities and to discuss your personalized hearing health recommendations. We have offices in Bella Vista and in Bentonville, for your convenience. Please call 479-6576464 to schedule a consultation today.

While it is more common to have hearing loss as we age, it is difficult to say that age-related hearing loss is strictly due to the aging process. Outside influences, such as ototoxic drugs or loud noise exposure are more likely to be experienced over time; therefore, with age, we have more time to be exposed to environmental causes of hearing loss. At the same time, the aging process results in reduced hearing sensitivity. For these reasons, it is important to not only have a baseline hearing test, but to have annual examinations to monitor changes in hearing sensitivity.

Hearing loss affects more than our hearing sensitivity. In fact, because most hearing loss involves only some of the frequencies, or pitches, a person may be able to hear others talking, but not understand everything they are saying. These difficulties often increase as background noises increase; therefore, the difficulties aren’t always obvious to the person with hearing loss. As difficulties become more apparent, it often leads to depression and social withdraw/isolation. When we cannot understand others, we tend to avoid the more challenging social environments as they become less enjoyable. This stresses our relationships with friends, family, and loved ones.

Women, by nature, are more social creatures than their male counterparts, with some studies suggesting women utilize approximately 13,000 more words/day than men. In the words of Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, “When you lose your sight, you lose touch with things. When you lose your hearing, you lose touch with people.”

It is the lack of social interaction, resulting from hearing loss, which results in an increased risk for memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. As sound is processed by our brain, nerves carry the sensory information to the auditory processing center, where the sound is decoded. The brain shares that information by way of nerves with other centers of the brain, such as the memory center (so we remember what someone said) and our thinking and reasoning center (so we may decide a course of action in response to what we heard). When we deprive the brain of the auditory sensory information, neural atrophy may result over time. As sensory information is deprived from reaching the auditory processing center, other cognitive processing centers may also be deprived, resulting in an increased risk for global neural atrophy, which in turn results in the increased possibility