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One in Seven Middle-Aged Adults Has Hearing Loss
03-21-2011Researchers in Madison, Wisconsin have discovered that 14% of middle-aged Americans have some sort of hearing loss. For those aged 48 to 59, that percentage jumps to around 20%, and for those 80 years old and older, the percentage skyrockets to 90%. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health research study included 3,285 subjects from 21 to 84 years of age.
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One in Seven Middle-Aged Adults Has Hearing Loss
03-21-2011Researchers in Madison, Wisconsin have discovered that 14% of middle-aged Americans have some sort of hearing loss.(1) For those aged 48 to 59, that percentage jumps to around 20%, and for those 80 years old and older, the percentage skyrockets to 90%. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health research study included 3,285 subjects from 21 to 84 years of age.
Researcher Scott D. Nash and other study authors summarized, “Hearing impairment was more likely in men, in participants with lower education levels, and in those working in noisy occupations or with a history of ear surgery."
The study provides yet another endorsement for exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. The researchers found a correlation between hearing loss and cardiovascular disease, suggesting that for some hearing loss may not be inevitable. The same proactive healthy-lifestyle measures that protect against heart disease may also prove beneficial in delaying or preventing the onset of hearing impairment. Said the authors, "Cardiovascular disease risk factors may be important correlates of age-related auditory dysfunction," noting that they found cardiovascular markers associated with hearing problems, including statin use, a lower hemocrit percentage and thicker artery walls.
The potentially preventable nature of this type of hearing loss is welcome news. It is estimated that 29 million Americans suffer from hearing impairment. The devastating effects of hearing loss have been well documented: depression, anxiety, withdrawal, anger and other social effects are common problems.(2)
The researchers analyzed data from the “Beaver Dam Offspring Study” (BOSS) on aging, which was sponsored in part by the National Institutes on Aging, the National Eye Institute, and The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
The University of Wisconsin team benefited from a now world-renowned study of citizens of this local community. More than twenty years ago husband-and-wife medical team Dr. Ronald Klein and Dr. Barbara Klein selected Beaver Dam, Wisconsin as the site of a long-term investigation of “chronic diseases that take a long time to manifest.”(3) Originally designed as an eye health study funded by the National Eye Institute, the Beaver Dam project has spawned more than 250 research papers and shed light on many other diseases and health concerns well beyond eye health. The study continues today with the next generation of Beaver Dam participants.
The University of Wisconsin study has been published online in the JAMA Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
References:
(1) 'Hearing Loss Common in Middle Age, But Could Be Preventable', February 21, 2011
(2) “The Impact of Treated Hearing Loss on Quality of Life”, by Sergio Kochkin, Ph.D., The Better Hearing Institute
(3) “All Eyes on Beaver Dam,” by Renee Wahlen Tillema, InSpire Magazine, August 2007
Hearing Loss and Dementia
03-30-2011Researchers are calling for “critically needed” “rehabilitative strategies” for confronting a newly discovered association between hearing loss and the progression of dementia.
How to be a smart hearing aid buyer
03-18-2011
Many people have a misconceptions about hearing aids and believe there is no solution to their hearing problem. Consumerrespots.org conducted a national survey of 1,100 people who bought hearing aids in the past three years, and lab-tested the features of 44 hearing aids to learn more about the following challenges.
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