As bathing suit season approaches, you may be hitting the gym to look and feel better on the beach. But as you squeeze in your cardio and work your quads, you may be neglecting another, less obvious aspect of your health.
Improving your sprint times or fitting into a two-piece is great, but when’s the last time you checked your hearing health?
If you can’t remember, you may want to consider this: Neglecting the signs of hearing loss could mean more than just hearing aids and blasting the television when you’re older.
It could mean an increased risk of dementia.
A recent Johns Hopkins study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a potential link between hearing loss and dementia. The study, which followed 2,000 normally functioning seniors for five years, found that those who had significant hearing loss were more likely to suffer from cognitive impairments, including dementia.
Not only that, hearing loss may actually speed up dementia. The study found that the cognitive skills of people with hearing impairment declined 30 to 40 times faster than the seniors with normal hearing.
Cranking up the volume or asking your daughter to repeat her story for the third time may not seem like a big deal now, but how will you feel when you can’t figure out how the TV works, or even recognize who your daughter is?
Maybe it’s time to devote the same energy to your hearing as you do to the treadmill.
Schedule an appointment for an audiological assessment at one our five locations in the New York City area today.
