American Heart Month Ties To Better Hearing - Shohet Ear Doctor

The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) is teaming up this year with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to promote American Heart Month in February and to create awareness of the link between heart and hearing health.

Some researchers hypothesize that because the inner ear is so sensitive to blood flow, abnormalities in the condition of blood vessels here could be noted earlier than in other, less sensitive parts of the body. In one study — presented by David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Madison at the 2009 Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting — it was hypothesized that low-frequency hearing loss may be a potential marker for predicting the presence or potential development of cardiovascular disease.

Another study, authored in the June 2010 issue of the American Journal of Audiology by Raymond H. Hull and Stacy R. Kerschen, reviewed research conducted over the past 60 plus years and found that the negative influence of impaired cardiovascular health on both the peripheral and central auditory system–and the potential positive influence of improved cardiovascular health on these same systems–has been found through a sizable body of research.

Studies have shown that a healthy cardiovascular system — a person's heart, arteries, and veins — has a positive effect on hearing. Conversely, inadequate blood flow and trauma to the blood vessels of the inner ear can contribute to hearing loss.

So in honor of American Heart Month, why not take a moment to check your hearing? Our website offers a link to the Revised American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) five-minute hearing test. Click here.