According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 20.1 million adults aged 20 and older have the most common form of heart disease, called coronary artery disease, or CAD. CAD happens when blood vessels narrow or become blocked by plaque. Though CAD is often years or even decades in the making, it can result in damage to the heart’s muscle, … Read More
What’s the Difference Between and Free Hearing Test and a Diagnostic Hearing Evaluation?
Consumers often get mailings or see ads online promoting a free hearing test. Statements like, “Don’t pay for an expensive hearing test when you can get one for free,” or “We offer a no-cost hearing test,” sound too good to be true, and they are. In this blog, we’ll look at hearing tests and why it’s important to understand exactly … Read More
Is There a Connection Between Hearing Loss and Emotional Health?
According to the World Health Organization, 2 billion people in the world will be 60 years old or older by 2050. As the number of older adults increases, so do the health conditions affecting this population, including hearing loss and its documented connection to emotional health, depression and social isolation. Recently, a cross-sectional study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience … Read More
Survey Highlights Lack of Awareness of Hearing Loss
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic recently released a new study which shines a spotlight on the need to improve awareness of hearing loss among adults between the ages of 50 and 80 in the United States. Results indicated that only 10% of those surveyed were able to properly identify a “normal” range of hearing. The survey also found that people … Read More
The Link Between Hearing Loss and Osteoporosis
According to a study recently published in the Hearing Journal, a first-of-its-kind study has found that osteoporosis and low bone density may be important contributors to age-related hearing loss. A nationwide longitudinal study of nearly 144,000 women in the U.S., with up to 34 years of follow-up, determined that osteoporosis, or low bone density, was independently associated with up to … Read More
Are Sleep Apnea and Hearing Loss Connected?
The National Sleep Foundation estimates more than 18 million Americans have sleep apnea. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the condition causes you to stop and restart breathing many times while sleeping. This can prevent your body from getting enough oxygen. There are two types of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea happens when your upper airway becomes … Read More
Medications Can Affect Your Hearing
We usually take medications like pain relievers and antibiotics to treat health problems, such as headache pain, arthritis, or in the case of antibiotics, an infection. And while it’s true that these medications may treat one health problem, in the process they might cause another, namely hearing loss, tinnitus or vestibular disorders. In fact, drugs that can impact hearing, whether … Read More
Why Hearing Loss is a Family Affair
You’re sitting at the dinner table, but your conversation with your partner requires you to constantly repeat yourself. “What?” “Can you speak up?” and “Would you repeat that?” are all phrases that pepper your dinner talk. For family members of someone who has hearing loss, that scenario is all too common. Responses are often misunderstood by the individual with hearing … Read More
The Connection Between Smoking and Hearing Loss
According to the Centers for Disease Control, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. An estimated 30.8 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes. Each year, nearly half a million Americans die prematurely of smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. Another 16 million live with a serious illness caused by smoking. Each year, … Read More
Can You Hear Spring?
Can you hear spring? Birds singing, rain falling and the wind rustling the new leaves on the trees… If you can’t hear those sounds, you may have hearing loss, and that means you’re missing out on the sounds of spring. But how do you know if you’re missing out? After all, the last time you had your hearing checked might … Read More