Everyone loves the idea of a miracle cure that helps increase your lifespan. That’s why you can find a great number of these miracle cures all over the internet ensuring longevity if you do this one trick. The healthcare community doesn’t back the vast majority of these supposed cures as they have no real medical basis.
But there are some legitimate things you can do to help you get a longer lifespan. For instance, eating a healthy diet (especially one low in sodium and saturated fats) or quitting smoking can substantially impact your expected lifespan.
Utilizing hearing aids to manage hearing loss is also in this group. That’s in line with a recent study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, a multidisciplinary journal committed to healthy aging. So, will using hearing aids to treat hearing loss help improve longevity? According to this study, it’s a distinct possibility.
Does hearing loss pose a risk to your health?
Researchers have been aware of the link between overall wellness and hearing health for quite some time. For example, it has been well established that untreated hearing loss can significantly increase your risk of cognitive decline later in life.
These risks, however, are generally unknown by most individuals. They think about hearing loss as an isolated hassle, something that only impacts one very particular part of their life. But when left untreated, hearing loss can pose bigger health concerns than a simple inconvenience.
The link between lifespan and hearing loss
In most cases, treatment for hearing loss means using hearing aids as often as possible. So does this mean that you can decrease your risk of early death by using hearing aids? There is a definite possibility, according to this latest study, that hearing aids can decrease your risk of early death. There is a 24% reduction in mortality risk for people with hearing loss who regularly use hearing aids, as reported by this study. In other words, the individuals observed in the study who used hearing aids had a tendency to live longer.
The advantages of hearing aids
Though The Lancet Healthy Longevity study strongly suggests a relationship between hearing health and longevity, it doesn’t absolutely prove that using hearing aids will help you live longer. But we already have a large body of evidence about the many benefits of using hearing aids and this just adds to that body.
- Cognition can be enhanced by using hearing aids. This means that you (and your brain) will likely be less tired and healthier over time.
- Social situations can become substantially easier. This will help your overall well-being by lessening 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.
- You might also be more aware of your surroundings. This can help prevent accidents, injuries, and mishaps.
These are improvements to your quality of life that you’ll feel each time you use your hearing aids. For these reasons alone, hearing aids are an important part of managing your hearing loss.
Your total health and well-being rely heavily on healthy hearing
The more we learn about the relationships between hearing loss and the rest of your body, the more scientists have come to understand that your hearing is an exceedingly important part of your total health and wellness. If you have hearing loss, getting diagnosed and wearing hearing aids can substantially diminish your early mortality risks.
Seeing a hearing specialist can help you determine whether you have hearing loss and the best way to treat it.