A miracle cure that can help increase your lifespan is something pretty much everybody would want. In fact, a quick internet search will probably return thousands of such miracle cures (if not more), each promising to help you have a longer life if you employ one simple trick. The healthcare community doesn’t back most of these supposed cures as they have no real medical foundation.
But there are some legitimate things you can do to help you achieve a longer lifespan. For instance, eating a healthy diet (particularly one low in sodium and saturated fats) or quitting smoking can substantially affect your expected lifespan.
Making use of hearing aids to treat hearing loss is also in this category. That’s according to a recent study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, a multidisciplinary journal devoted to healthy aging. So, can hearing aids help you live longer? According to this research, it’s a distinct possibility.
Is hearing loss a health risk?
The connection between your hearing health and your overall wellness is not particularly new to researchers. For instance, it has been well established that neglected hearing loss can considerably increase your risk of cognitive decline later in life.
These risks, however, are generally unknown by most individuals. They consider hearing loss to be an isolated inconvenience, something that only influences one very particular aspect of their life. But the truth is that hearing loss is more than a simple nuisance, especially when left untreated.
The link between lifespan and hearing loss
In most cases, treatment for hearing loss involves wearing hearing aids as much as possible. from this perspective, do hearing aids reduce the risk of early death? According to this newest research, quite possibly. The study found that regular hearing aid use was linked to a 24% reduction in mortality risk. In other words, the individuals observed in the study who wore hearing aids had a tendency to live longer.
The advantages of hearing aids
The study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity isn’t exactly definitive proof that hearing aids will help you live longer (though the study does strongly indicate a connection). But we already have a large body of evidence about the many benefits of using hearing aids and this just adds to that body.
- You can prevent accidents and injuries by being more aware of your environment.
- Wearing your hearing aids can help enhance cognition. This means that you (and your brain) will likely be less fatigued and healthier over time.
- Social situations can become considerably easier. This will help your general well-being by decreasing your feelings of social separation.
- Hearing aids can help you enjoy day-to-day moments with friends and family, from going out to eat with colleagues to asking your grandchildren about their school day.
These are improvements to your quality of life that you’ll feel every time you wear your hearing aids. These are all great reasons to use hearing aids to treat your hearing loss.
Your overall health and well-being depend heavily on healthy hearing
The more we discover about the relationships between hearing loss and the rest of your body, the more scientists have come to understand that your hearing is an exceptionally important part of your general health and wellness. Your risk of early mortality can be reduced by treating any hearing loss you might have with hearing aids.
Seeing a hearing specialist can help you determine whether you have hearing loss and the best way to treat it.
