Heart-Health Means Hearing-Health!

February is here and with it, Heart-Health month! This month we focus on the connections between your heart-health and your hearing, and how to best take care of both.

It may not be a coincidence that the middle letters of the word HEART are E-A-R!

Beyond your physical heart, hearing can dramatically affect your emotional heart as well. What can we say, we just think hearing is SUPER important to your overall health and wellbeing!

I’m pleased to share Dr. Shawna Beasley’s article this month. She's not only an audiologist, but she’s a patient with lifelong bilateral hearing loss. Dr. Beasley can share about the importance of hearing from both sides of the table.

I hope you learn a lot and share this with your friends. If you have suggestions for future articles, please reply with your ideas.

Ch’ears’!

Dr. Whitney Swander
Owner, Doctor of Audiology at Hearing HealthCare Centers

Did you know that there is evidence suggesting that hearing loss and heart conditions have a connection? Just like our heart needs a source of blood flow to function properly, our ears depend on a
good blood supply to help us hear! Poor blood circulation or inadequate oxygen supply can cause damage to these hair cells. Unlike hair elsewhere on your body, damage to these hair cells is permanent.

Here, we've listed some hearing-heart-health facts you may not have known before, to help you make more informed decisions about your hearing health!

-Firstly, heart disease can reduce blood flow to the ear and in turn cause damage to different parts of the auditory system. This damage typically results in what is called a sensory-neural hearing loss which is permanent and often managed with amplification, or hearing aids.

- An estimated 92 million Americans, over 1/3 of the U.S. population, have at least one form of cardiovascular disease.

- Living with hearing loss can increase the chances of a heart attack by 36%.

- Individuals with sudden hearing loss are at an increased risk of 150% for having a stroke a few years after their hearing loss.

Additionally, smokers are 2-4 times more likely to have heart diseases than non-smokers.
Smoking negatively impacts your health and increases your chances of hearing loss by:

- Smoking increases blood pressure and plaque buildup, causing hardening of the arteries, all of which decreases blood flow to the organs and other parts of the body (including your ears!)

-The effects of smoking damages the cardiovascular system, boosting the risk of hearing loss.

-Smokers have a 70% higher risk of hearing loss than non-smokers.

Here are some tips to help improve your heart health and to keep your entire body happy and healthy!

1. Exercise Regularly!
Simple workouts like running, walking, swimming, cycling, and weight-lifting can strengthen your heart and help to decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which results in improved heart health.

2. Eat a Healthy Breakfast!
Make sure to include some fiber-rich fruits and a small serving of whole grains such as bran flakes, whole-wheat toast, or oatmeal in your breakfast. Dietary fiber in whole grains and fruits can reduce the
risk of developing heart disease.

3. Take a Short Walk.
Walking is the best exercise, because it reduces blood pressure and bad cholesterol levels, and it helps manage your weight. This will reduce the risk of a heart problem.

4. Avoid Sugary Beverages.
Sugary drinks like juice and soda-pop can increase blood pressure which contributes to heart problems. Even cutting back one sugary drink a day can decrease your blood pressure, keep your weight in check, and improve your heart health!

PATIENT TESTIMONIALS

"I've been going to Dr. Kimberly Hart for some years now. I've been leery of people in the hearing aid industry all my life but I've come to trust her. CSU no longer has the speech language department, so Dr. Kim is the best audiologist to go to locally. She takes the time to listen and explain things to me. She's the only one who has parts for my specific brand of hearing aids. She has reprogrammed my hearing aids and giving me hearing tests. Her earwash machine is the best! No more jabs on my sensitive ears to clean out any earwax! Caitlin the receptionist is wonderful, too! Keep up the good work!"
S.H.