HearingAidExpert

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Understanding the Gender Gap and Differences of Age-Associated Hearing Loss

There is an old adage that goes something like this, an ear is an ear is an ear. However, if we were to take a closer look at it, we will quickly find that that is not the case when it comes to comparing male and female ears.

There are a few key distinctions between the ears of men and those of women. There are the structural differences present in the inner ear, the different physiology that each gender has, and also, the different hormonal effects that the two genders have. All of these things have been well documented by the medical community and as a result, it has revealed some key differences in clinical hearing and also clinical balance test results. 

There are also quite a few studies that have posited that there exists a difference in age-related hearing loss (a very common type of hearing loss) between men and women. The studies have been able to hypothesize that men are, in general, more likely to be exposed to dangerous levels of sound at their workplace. This typically results in hearing loss in the higher frequency ranges. The studies were also able to show that women are more likely to experience unique structural changes within their ears. This will often lead to hearing loss in the lower registers of the frequency spectrum. 

The results of a particularly large and long-term study that looked at pure-tone hearing levels in men and women, conducted in 1984, were able to showcase that hearing typically declined twice as fast in men than in women of most ages and across different frequencies. The loss of hearing occurred much faster in men across the entire frequency range. It was also found that women, in most cases, had better hearing than men when it came to hearing sounds over 1000 Hz. Men, however, had a much better hearing at the lower end of the frequency spectrum. 

Then there is also the fact that otosclerosis, a particular type of middle ear bone disease, is much more prevalent among middle-aged white women than any other demographic. This clearly demonstrates a distinction in hearing loss among different genders and demographics. 

As we can see from the above paragraphs, there are different risk factors that contribute to hearing loss for both men and women. However, what is accepted as being universally true is that whenever hearing loss of any kind is present, hearing aids ought to be the first course of treatment. 

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Comorbidities with Hearing Loss

In the past dozen years or so, a lot of studies have been published which uncovered the fact that hearing loss often brings with it other serious and sometimes, disabling conditions. This can include a lot of things with some of the more terrifying ones being Alzheimer’s disease, a fall in cognitive abilities, clinical depression, heart disease, etc.  

The link between hearing loss and these other conditions is often termed comorbidities. The word comorbidities are used here to describe the fact that a person can be suffering from multiple serious conditions at the same time.

Comorbidities Associated with Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is a type of condition due to which there can easily be the presence of many other comorbidities. For people affected by this condition, it can really be a hellish experience when they develop comorbidities.

Perhaps the one comorbidity that is the most common and harmful, is social isolation. Human beings are social animals and the need to be understood and have our self-expression be valued is a basic human need. Hearing loss can make this situation a lot more difficult to deal with.

A person suffering from hearing loss will often not be able to participate in a lot of social activities and, as a result, they can withdraw completely from social interactions. This can give way to the rise of another very serious comorbid condition, clinical depression.

Other than these two comorbidities, people with hearing loss often face balance problems, diabetes, dementia, etc.

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The Relationship between Hearing Loss and Cognitive Decline

Aging is a natural process for every living being. Humans experience subtle declination of cognitive abilities with the increase of age. For example, one may experience memory issues, need more time to learn, or have less focus and concentration. 

Stopping cognitive functions from declining is impossible. However, we can slow it down with better maintenance.

Many research has found a link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. It has opened a way to keep cognitive health intact for a longer time.

In this article, we will discuss the relationship between cognitive declination and hearing loss.

Problems Associated with Cognitive Declination

Human brains control all cognitive processes in the human body. As age increases, brain cells can get damaged and lose their ability to process information. Therefore, cognitive declination occurs in a person. 

Cognitive declination can bring mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease. Also, sensory impairments like losing sight or hearing loss can impact cognitive declination. 

In a nutshell, cognitive impairment affects your ability to make decisions and process them. It may occur due to both congenital and acquired hearing loss. 

Relationship Between Cognitive Declination and Hearing Loss

There are still no definitive answers if cognitive declination causes hearing loss or the other way around. However, they both are interlinked closely. 

Many research suggests that dementia or other cognitive diseases develop faster in hearing loss patients. Researchers have several theories for this relationship:

When a person has hearing loss, the brain works more to understand and process sound better. It pushes the brain to overwork and causes damage.

Hearing loss reduces work for some brain cells. As the cells don’t get sounds to receive and process, they lack enough stimuli. Therefore, the brain cells shrink and damage cognitive functions.

People with hearing loss cannot take part in conversations actively. It isolates them, and their brain cannot stimulate enough. As a result, those people suffer from cognitive declination.

What does Research say?

According to numerous research, mental stimulation helps keep better health. With hearing loss, People get fewer signals in the brain to process. As a result, the brain cannot work properly, and various health conditions can occur.

Some research suggests that hearing loss can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and chronic kidney diseases. Moreover, a person can experience anxiety and depression due to hearing loss.

How Can Hearing Aids Help in Slow Down Cognitive Decline?

Hearing aids are the most used device for managing hearing loss. These devices can address the problems causing hearing loss and help a person to listen to sounds clearly. 

As a result, The brain doesn’t get overwhelmed or overworked to listen to sounds. Also, enough sound signals keep the brain active and prevent brain cells away from damaging or shrinking. 

When people can hear proper sounds, they can take part in conversations. Therefore, they don’t get isolated or develop depression and anxiety. It allows the brain to slow cognitive declination effectively. 

Overall, hearing aids don’t let brains struggle or overwork. Thus, these devices help in maintaining overall health wellbeing.

Why do People Ignore Using Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids benefit your overall health. However, many people don’t want to use hearing aids. Several myths hold people back from using hearing aids. They are:

Not acknowledging hearing loss: Many people don’t want to acknowledge their hearing loss. They tend to accuse others of mumbling or not talking clearly. As they don’t acknowledge their problem, they don’t get timely treatment. This often makes their hearing condition worse.

Fear of getting old: Some people believe that hearing loss is a problem for older people. Therefore, they don’t like to wear hearing aids and damage their hearing abilities worse.

Concern about outlooks: Unlike glasses, hearing aids still look more like medical devices rather than necessary daily accessories. Therefore, many hearing loss patients tend to avoid wearing hearing aids on a daily basis.

Difficult to use: Hearing aids may need a longer time to get used to. This concerns a lot of patients with hearing disabilities. Some may use it for a few days and then keep the devices away to avoid discomfort. However, without daily use, one cannot get used to hearing aids.

Costly: Hearing aids can be expensive. A good pair of hearing aids can cost from 4000$ US to over 10,000$ US. This often discourages many from buying or using hearing aids.

Bottom Line

Cognitive declination and hearing loss both are serious health conditions. They are associated with each other and can trigger additional health problems. Timely diagnosis and treatment can help a person to live a better life.

Regular medical check-ups can help you to detect such problems earlier and treat them effectively. Also, using hearing aids can slow down cognitive declination significantly. 

As research progresses in finding the relationship between hearing loss, and cognitive declination, soon we may find a way to stop and treat cognitive impairment. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdEdhw-FB0M