by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
During a recent appointment for my first ever hearing test, I was asked (among many other tests) to repeat the words I heard the audiologist saying through my earphones, one after another. I heard “ache” when the word was actually “ate”, “lull” instead of “low”, “if” instead of “it”. My answers revealed what audiologists call a “loss of consonant clarity”. Too bad so many words have consonants in them.
The audiologist also mentioned a link between hearing loss and heart disease. In fact, researchers have confirmed that the risk of age-related hearing loss generally increases as a person’s cardiac risk load increases.
One such research team at the University of Colorado published their study last year in the journal Scientific Reports.(1) They start with a sobering description of age-related hearing loss in older adults as “being associated with depression, reduced quality of life, and cognitive decline – a prevalent health condition that often presents with other chronic conditions.”
The Colorado research involved 6,000 people (64 per cent of whom had hearing loss, evenly split between male and female participants).
Their study compared hearing quality in people with major cardiac risk factors to hearing in people with “optimal risk status” (meaning, no major cardiac risk factors). High LDL cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes were specifically noted as the major cardiac risk factors reported; in women, smoking was also identified as a significant cardiac risk factor.
Results aren’t based only on advancing age. The adults studied who were living with diabetes, for example, had a mean age of 62, and a 40 per cent higher risk of age-related hearing loss compared to other participants of similar age who did not have diabetes.
One of the key take-away messages from the Colorado team: the same risk factors which make us statistically more likely to face a heart disease diagnosis one day are the risk factors that also make us more likely to experience age-related hearing loss.
And among all of the people with hearing loss who were studied, over 70 per cent had at least one major cardiac risk factor, while only 45 per cent of people studied who had normal hearing had a major cardiac risk factor.
Dr. Frank Lin is the Director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. His excellent overview called “The Hidden Costs of Hearing Loss“ in Hopkins Medicine reminds us that although millions of North Americans are experiencing age-related hearing loss, only one in seven of these adults uses a hearing aid. He also adds some surprising ways that age-related hearing loss can affect walking, balancing, falling – and even our brain function. As Dr. Lin explains:
“As you walk, your ears pick up subtle cues that help with balance. Hearing loss mutes these important signals. It also makes your brain work harder just to process sound. This subconscious multi-tasking may interfere with some of the mental processing needed to walk safely and help reduce falling.
“Our study tracked over 600 adults for nearly 12 years, and we also found that mild hearing loss doubled their risk of dementia. Moderate hearing loss tripled this risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.”
No wonder Dr. Lin recommends hearing tests every year for all adults over age 65, adding: “If you think your hearing has diminished, it’s worth making an appointment with an audiologist for a hearing check. And if you do have hearing loss, don’t let the following myths keep you from getting help”:
Myth #1: “My hearing’s not that bad.”
“Hearing aid users wait on average 10 years before getting help for hearing loss. But during those years, communication with loved ones becomes more difficult, while isolation and health risks increase, too. Our research emphasized just how important it is to be proactive in addressing any hearing decline over time.”
Myth #2: “Wearing hearing aids means I’m old, and I’m not ready for that.”
“It’s normal to feel worried that hearing loss means you’re aging – and to want to hide it. Many people with a hearing impairment sit silently rather than joining in conversations and activities because they fear that hearing problems will make them seem less than competent. The truth is: Connecting with others can help your brain stay younger and keep you involved with life.“
Myth #3: “I don’t like the way hearing aids look.”
“Forget the old days of big, whistling earpieces. Today’s hearing aids are smaller (and less conspicuous) than ever before. Even celebrities are wearing them proudly.”
(P.S. from Carolyn: I’ve actually got my eye on a pair of turquoise hearing aids I saw at the hearing clinic. Let’s start a trend, my heart sisters! They already make designer eyeglass frames – so why not designer hearing aids?
Myth #4: “I heard that hearing aids are difficult to use.”
“There is a breaking-in period as you – and your central auditory system and brain – adjust to life with hearing aids. That’s why most doctors and hearing clinics include a trial period, so you can be sure the type you’ve chosen – whether it’s a miniature behind-the-ear model or one that fits into your ear – is right for you.”
I decided to book this recent hearing test because of what I’d already learned from the people in my life who have age-related hearing loss – both my own friends as well as some of the elderly parents of my friends.
I’d already noticed that when I walk my 9-year old granddaughter home from school (as I’ve been doing for years), I often have trouble hearing what she is saying to me – unless she turns her head to directly face me while we walk, side-by-side. At first, I blamed neighbourhood distractions like traffic noise. But I knew I was missing important chunks of these precious chats, and worse, frequently interrupting to ask her to “please look at me when you’re talking!”
Not being able to clearly hear what family, friends, neighbours – or the coffee shop barista – are saying to us can mean problems participating in normal conversations. Communicating within our world is hugely important to our health. And as an Australian study published in the journal Seminars on Speech and Language reported:
“Hearing impairment leads to breakdowns in communication, a fact that means the impairment is also likely to influence our frequent communication partners. This impact on other people is known as Third-Party Disability. It’s defined as the disability and functioning of a significant other specifically due to the health condition of a close family member.” (2)
Speaking of frequent communication partners, people often compensate when a close family member has a hearing loss (by raising their voice, needing to repeat what’s been missed, acting as interpreters, etc.) Spouses can also be at risk of isolation themselves if they start preferring to just stay home rather than going out to social events with their hearing-impaired spouse. More importantly, family members tend to be “bothered by needing to compensate well before the person with hearing loss is ready to admit to a problem”, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders
Why are we not “ready to admit to a problem” with our hearing? Would we wait 10 years to admit that we need to wear glasses?
In addressing age-related hearing loss, there are several issues at play, as illustrated by Dr. Lin’s myth busters – including one issue that’s big for me: hearing aids are expensive (although some countries allow the sale of Over-the-Counter hearing aids for mild hearing loss). In my case, I’m eligible for about $3,000 in discounts on the cost of my prescribed hearing aids. (It turns out I was right to be concerned about our walking-home chats: I have mild hearing loss in my left ear and moderate hearing loss in my right). This financial help is available thanks to both my extended health retirement benefits and my BCAA (auto club) insurance combined. But despite that help, I will still need to take advantage of my hearing clinic’s monthly payment plan to be able to afford them.
Hearing aids won’t cure our age-related hearing loss. But the National Institute also reminds us that the sooner we get professional help for that hearing loss, the easier it will be for our brains to use the pathways intended for listening and understanding. This is a true case of Use It Or Lose It!
♥
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Baiduc RR et al. “Relationship of cardiovascular disease risk and hearing loss in a clinical population.” Science Rep. 2023 Jan 30;13(1):1642.
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Hickson L, Scarinci N. “Older adults with acquired hearing impairment: applying the ICF in rehabilitation.” Semin Speech Lang. 2007 Nov;28(4):283-90.
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Q: Does it seem you’re sometimes missing parts of conversations with your “frequent communication partners”?
♥
NOTE FROM CAROLYN: I wrote more about what can happen when heart patients face additional health issues in my book “A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease“. You can ask for it at bookstores (please support your local independent bookseller!) or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon – or order it directly from my publisher Johns Hopkins University Press (use their code HTWN to save 30% off the list price).
Heart Sisters 
This valuable information needs saying again and again.
We get stuck on information that is way out of date and then we pay the price. In New Zealand, my hearing aids cost thousands, so many that I refuse to remember the exact price. But knowing what I know now about their role in preventing dementia, I see them as an essential investment.
They’re high priority, second to accommodation. This is my next podcast topic!
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Hello Rachel – Here in Canada, our hearing aids are insanely expensive. In fact, I changed my car insurance company in favour of another company that offers members a $2,000 discount on hearing aids – which is still only a tiny dent in the total cost. So I was delighted when checking what my workplace extended health retirement benefits would cover: under the caption HEARING AIDS, their brochure listed “100%” loud and proud – but then I read the teeny tiny fine print that followed: (“up to a maximum of $700 per hearing aid”) Even combining both possible discounts, it’s a fraction of what the total cost will be.
Until I sat down to research this topic for this post, I had no idea that brain function, balance and falling are all linked to age-related hearing loss!
Take care, good luck with the podcast! ❤️
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I have just discovered that we have a charity, Hearing New Zealand, founded in 1932. Among other services they now sell very simple over-the-counter hearing aids for NZ$880. With a government subsidy, these are affordable.
Perhaps Canada has a similar charity, hidden in plain sight?
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Hello Rachel,
You’ve sent me down a rabbit hole of possibilities looking for those very simple over-the-counter hearing aids in Canada. I still haven’t found a local charity like you have in NZ. Very few certified audiologists run independent clinics here that aren’t owned by a specific hearing aid company (thus the only kind sold in their clinics).
It appears Canadians can order cheap hearing aids online from Amazon but it seems these are just “personal sound amplifiers” and the consumer reviews are all over the map. So many questions – and it’s past my bedtime so I’m barely understanding those fast/young sales reps from the online sales company videos! I’ll try again later. . .
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Good luck with your research. I understand that over the counter (OTC) hearing aids still need to be fitted and programmed. And their quality varies, shall we say.
Hearing NZ includes those costs in the price of their OTC hearing aids. This service must exist somewhere… Perhaps ask retirement villages whether they have anyone who visits residents to help them in this way?
Good luck.
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I do hope you find an equivalent charity, Carolyn. Maybe enquire at rest homes and retirement villages, as our one regularly visits such places to assist residents with their hearing problems. I have since discovered that buying generic hearing aids on Amazon will disappoint as they vary in quality and still need to be fitted and programmed.
There is more information including some links on http://www.hearing.org.nz, and in the latest episode of my podcast “Learning How To Be Old.” (The episode is “hearing aids rock”.) Good luck!
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Here are two links sent to me by Hearing NZ: I have had a look at what is available in Canada – and have attached a couple of links – to what I hope, will be equivalent to Hearing NZ… Good luck with your research!
– https://rarediseases.org/organizations/canadian-hearing-society/
– https://chha.ca/
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Thank you Rachel – I’ll check out these two links! 🙂
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Really good article. I got my hearing aids last month. They are the basic, comes with NHS health care here in the UK.
I am grateful.
I was first tested last year as my optician was offering free hearing tests. Mild to moderate hearing loss was the diagnosis.
With my hearing aids in I found two things I noticed right away: I get a feeling the hearing aids kind of light up my brain in regular daily life. And I also notice the hearing aids really DO affect my balance and I get a sense I walk generally feeling ‘secure’ in places where I was starting to notice I felt I needed to be extra careful…outside rocky stairways and walking on rough surfaces in nature.
I was told I had ‘high frequency’ hearing loss and so NATURE SOUNDS feel more vibrant when I have my hearing aids in.
In a follow up check, the audiologist told me that proper hearing aids DO in fact light up the brain as when we cannot hear something, the brain circulation cognition is affected and over time it can become ‘like living in a closet’ (my words). Perhaps this is the impact too over time magnified for circulation issues in the brain.
The audiologist also shared that hearing is the MOST important of our senses as it is the primal sense we count on for ‘life on earth’…even more than eyesight!
One more thing I want to share for others here …there are now teeny tiny super powerful micro vacuum cleaners for the ears….VERY helpful too as I had no idea there were teeny tiny bits of ear wax that had hardened and so I have now also benefited from ear vacuuming….ha ha.
Thank you for your writing and sharing on this and connecting the dots
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Hello Isabella – very interesting observations about your new “lighting up your brain” sensation, and also now feeling more secure walking on potentially tricky surfaces. Your comment about nature sounds feeling more vibrant reminds me of what a friend told me yesterday over coffee: after she got her new hearing aids, she asked her husband over dinner one night if he could hear her “loud chewing”! Maybe hearing aids help us hear sounds, big or small, that we just weren’t even aware of before!
Micro vacuum cleaners for our ears?!? That’s a new one!
Take care. . .❤️
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Isabella – Whaaaaaat?
You get free basic hearing aids through NHS in the UK???? That’s a logical policy as it must save the country millions!
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Excellent informative article as usual.
We are so lucky to have you keeping us current on all things “heart disease”.
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Hello Lori – thanks so much for your kind words! This particular topic does feel very current to me – because it now affects me!
Take care. . .❤️
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I hear you!
I realized my hearing loss was too intrusive to be denied at — of all places — the WomenHeart symposium last October when I couldn’t hear conversations across the table! I don’t know if there’s a connection.
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Hello and welcome! Congratulations on your WomenHeart Science & Leadership training – I hope you’re enjoying your important new volunteer role!
* Readers, you can learn more about this annual training program HERE (offered annually either in person or virtually by Mayo Clinic and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease). So far, they’ve trained over 1,100 women living with heart disease who are keen on helping other women in the same boat through support and education.
I suspect that when we first notice hearing problems while sitting across the table from somebody talking to us, it’s easy to blame the issues on background noise, loud music, etc. I hope you have seen an audiologist since that time and will soon be able to hear all your table chats!
Take care . . .
Your heart sister Carolyn (Mayo class of 2008!) ❤️
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Dang! Your post has totally interfered with my delusions of auditory perfection.
I often drive my adult son to appointments and his voice seems to be getting softer and softer.
I also totally remember taking care of hard of hearing patients with large squealing hearing aids that could only be adjusted with a hummingbird screw driver.
I shall procrastinate a little while longer – but will definitely check out my insurance coverage!
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Sorry Jill about interfering with your delusions! I had to smile reading your comment because it reminded me so much of an old friend who started muttering that all the actors (in every single play or movie we saw together) were MUMBLING! He was really annoyed with those actors and their sloppy enunciation. And then he became annoyed with ME whenever I assured him that they were NOT mumbling at all.
I hope your insurance coverage helps your son’s vocal volume improve!
Take care. . . ❤️
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I just found out I get $1,000 per ear for hearing aids every 2 years with free exams, fittings, adjustments etc.
That sounds generous but of course I have never shopped hearing aids before. LOL
Still feeling a need to procrastinate a bit longer…
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Hi again Jill – I believe that in the US, you can purchase over-the-counter hearing aids which are much cheaper than those prescribed by professional audiologists. Don’t know about how the quality differs between the two choices, or if the OTC version might work okay with mild hearing loss.
I’m curious about why you’re procrastinating. . . (I’ve just reread the myth busting points from Dr. Lin to try and guess which one is yours!) 🙂
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I love being quiet and meditating. Maybe I’m afraid hearing more of the outer world will interfere with my inner peace ????
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Well, that makes sense (unless you want to maintain inner peace while your son is talking to you. . . ) I’ve certainly heard from others with hearing aids that they notice all kinds of sudden very loud sounds in the early days of getting used to them! (see my response to Isabella about my friend who was shocked by how loudly she was chewing after she got her new hearing aids!)
❤️
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