Your body is a lot like an ecosystem. In nature, if something happens to the pond, all of the birds and fish suffer the consequences; and all of the animals and plants that depend on the birds will disappear if the birds disappear. We might not know it but our body works on very comparable principals. That’s the reason why something that seems to be isolated, like hearing loss, can be linked to a wide variety of other ailments and diseases.
This is, in a sense, proof of the interdependence of your body and it’s resemblance to an ecosystem. Your brain may also be impacted if something affects your hearing. These conditions are referred to as comorbid, a fancy (and specialized) term that demonstrates a link between two conditions while not necessarily articulating a cause-and-effect relationship.
We can learn a lot about our bodies’ ecosystem by comprehending conditions that are comorbid with hearing loss.
Hearing Loss And The Conditions That Are Connected to it
So, let’s assume that you’ve been noticing the symptoms of hearing loss for the past couple of months. You’ve been having a tough time hearing conversation when you go out for a bite. You’ve been cranking the volume up on your television. And certain sounds sound so distant. It would be a smart choice at this point to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist.
Your hearing loss is linked to a number of health problems whether your aware of it or not. Some of the health ailments that have reported comorbidity with hearing loss include:
- Cardiovascular disease: hearing loss and cardiovascular conditions are not necessarily interconnected. In other instances, cardiovascular problems can make you more susceptible to hearing loss. That’s because one of the first symptoms of cardiovascular disease is trauma to the blood vessels of the inner ear. As that trauma gets worse, your hearing could suffer as an outcome.
- Diabetes: likewise, diabetes can wreak havoc with your entire body’s nervous system (especially in your extremities). one of the areas particularly likely to be affected are the nerves in the ear. This damage can cause hearing loss by itself. But diabetes-related nerve damage can also make you more susceptible to hearing loss caused by other issues, often compounding your symptoms.
- Dementia: neglected hearing loss has been linked to a higher chance of dementia, though it’s unclear what the base cause is. Many of these cases of dementia and also cognitive decline can be reduced, according to research, by using hearing aids.
- Depression: social isolation associated with hearing loss can cause a whole range of problems, many of which are related to your mental health. So anxiety and depression, not surprisingly, have been found in study after study, to have a high rate of comorbidity with hearing loss.
- Vertigo and falls: your inner ear is your main tool for balance. Vertigo and dizziness can be caused by some forms of hearing loss because they have a damaging impact on the inner ear. Falls are progressively more dangerous as you get older and falls can happen whenever someone loses their balance
Is There Anything That You Can do?
When you add all of those related health conditions added together, it can look a bit scary. But it’s important to keep one thing in mind: enormous positive impact can be gained by treating your hearing loss. Even though researchers and scientists don’t exactly know, for example, why dementia and hearing loss show up together so often, they do know that dealing with hearing loss can substantially lower your dementia risks.
So the best course of action, regardless of what comorbid condition you may be worried about, is to have your hearing tested.
Part of an Ecosystem
This is the reason why health care professionals are rethinking the importance of how to manage hearing loss. Your ears are being regarded as a part of your total health profile rather than being a specific and limited issue. In a nutshell, we’re beginning to view the body more like an interrelated environment. Hearing loss isn’t an isolated scenario. So it’s more relevant than ever that we address the totality, not to the proverbial pond or the birds in isolation, but to your health as a whole.
