According to findings presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2014 International Conference, people with sleep apnea also had a 31 percent increased risk of high-frequency hearing impairment, 90 percent increased risk of low frequency hearing impairment, and 38 percent increased risk of a combination of the two.
According to findings presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2014 International Conference, people with sleep apnea also had a 31 percent increased risk of high-frequency hearing impairment, 90 percent increased risk of low frequency hearing impairment, and 38 percent increased risk of a combination of the two.
In the study of 13,967 subjects from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, sleep apnea was independently associated with hearing impairment at both high and low frequencies after adjustment for other possible causes of hearing loss. While the cause of the high correlation is not clear, researchers suggested that the adverse effects of sleep apnea may affect the vascular supply to the cochlea, a part of the inner ear important for distinguishing sounds.
Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleeping disorders, and can be caused by extra flesh in the airway, a large tongue, lax neck muscles or excess weight. People with sleep apnea tend to snore loudly and may stop breathing in their sleep five to 50 times or more every hour due to a collapse of soft tissue in the airway of their throat. Sleep apnea has also been associated with other adverse health conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.