From a Public Health perspective, we should learn from well-known national organizations devoted to saving and improving lives for 10s of millions of people. During February’s American Heart Month, let’s discover how daily sound environments may affect hearing AND heart wellness. Recent research reveals surprising connections between environmental noise exposure and cardiovascular health that enlighten us on the necessity of expert hearing evaluations.
For your information, consider these alarming statistics and their indescribably harmful impact.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for U.S. men, women and people of most racial or ethnic groups, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) estimates that:
How might our auditory system cue us into preventative insights?
Imagine your sound-sensitive ears functioning like advanced smoke detectors for your cardiovascular system. While smoke detectors should proactively alert you to unseen dangers, certain types of hearing loss might indicate cardiovascular issues before symptoms present themselves or chronic damage occurs. Just as smoke detectors respond to visible smoke and invisible carbon monoxide, your ears react to obvious noise damage and subtle circulatory changes.
The key difference? While a smoke detector’s battery raises awareness via annoying chirps, your ears’ early warning signals often go unnoticed without professional screening.
Your inner ear’s delicate structures can serve as keen markers of cardiovascular health. The cochlea’s thousands of tiny hair cells which translate sound into neural signals require robust blood flow to function properly. Research describes why certain patterns of hearing loss, particularly in lower frequencies, may imply cardiovascular issues before other symptoms appear.
This intently thorough research concluded:
“The present review provides evidence that noise not only causes annoyance, sleep disturbance, or reductions in quality of life, but also contributes to a higher prevalence of the most important cardiovascular risk factor arterial hypertension and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.”
Our Practice’s Commitment:
We understand the vital link between environmental noise exposure, hearing health, and cardiovascular wellness. Our comprehensive evaluations assess your hearing status, daily noise exposure and potential cardiovascular risk factors. In coordination with your primary care physician and cardiologist, we will help develop a careful monitoring strategy that protects both your hearing and heart health.
Do you have heart disease or a family history which increases your risk of heart disease? Please see us for periodic evaluations to accurately assess your type and degree of hearing loss. During American Heart Month, don’t miss a beat and be sure to see us soon.
1 Miedema HME, Oudshoorn CGM. Annoyance from transportation noise: Relationships with exposure metrics DNL and DENL and their confidence intervals. Environ Health Perspect 2001;109:409–416.