Everybody loves the idea of a miracle cure that helps increase your lifespan. In fact, a brief internet search will probably return thousands of such miracle remedies (if not more), each promising to help you live longer if you employ one simple trick. Pretty much all of these alleged cures have no medical basis and are not backed by the healthcare community.
But there are some legitimate things you can do to help you get a longer lifespan. For example, eating a healthy diet (especially one low in sodium and saturated fats) or quitting smoking can dramatically affect your expected lifespan.
This is also true of treating hearing loss by wearing hearing aids. That’s according to a recent study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, a multidisciplinary publication committed to healthy aging. So, will wearing hearing aids to treat hearing loss help improve longevity? There’s a strong likelihood that it will according to this research.
Does hearing loss pose a threat to your health?
The relationship between your hearing health and your overall wellness isn’t necessarily new to researchers. For instance, it has been well established that untreated hearing loss can significantly raise your risk of dementia later in life.
Many people, however, are not aware of these risks. They consider hearing loss to be an isolated inconvenience, something that only affects one very particular facet of their life. But when neglected, hearing loss can pose greater health concerns than a simple inconvenience.
Is there a connection between hearing aids and longevity?
In most instances, treatment for hearing loss involves wearing hearing aids as much as possible. So does this mean that you can reduce your risk of early death by using hearing aids? There is certainly a possibility, according to this latest study, that hearing aids can decrease your risk of early death. There is a 24% decrease in mortality risk for people with hearing loss who regularly use hearing aids, as reported by this study. In other words, the individuals who participated in the study who wore hearing aids had a tendency to live longer.
Hearing aid benefits
Though The Lancet Healthy Longevity study strongly indicates a link between hearing health and longevity, it doesn’t absolutely prove that using hearing aids will help you live longer. However, it’s another piece of evidence to add onto what we already know about the advantages of hearing aids.
- Cognition can be enhanced by wearing hearing aids. This means that you (and your brain) will probably be less tired and healthier over time.
- Social engagements can become significantly easier. This will help your overall well-being by lessening your feelings of social separation.
- From enjoying tender moments with your grandkids to participating in a business dinner, daily situations with friends, family, and colleagues will be easier.
- You can prevent accidents and injuries by being more conscious of your environment.
These are improvements to your quality of life that you’ll feel every time you use your hearing aids. For these reasons alone, hearing aids are an important part of managing your hearing loss.
Your overall health and well-being rely heavily on healthy hearing
The more we learn about the connections between hearing loss and the rest of your body, the more scientists have come to recognize that your hearing is an exceptionally significant part of your total health and wellness. If you have hearing loss, getting diagnosed and wearing hearing aids can significantly decrease your early mortality risks.
Seeing a hearing specialist can help you identify whether you have hearing loss and the best way to manage it.