Why does heart disease affect your hearing?
When the heart isn’t pumping blood well, less blood flows to the auditory system.
Do you remember the show Happy Days and the Pump Your Blood song? Character Potsie Weber sings about the heart and all the places in the body that it pumps blood. Heart disease affects the heart’s ability to do just that – pump your blood. If your body isn’t pumping blood well enough, the reduced blood flow can contribute to hearing loss.
Researchers compared studies done over the past 60 years and confirmed that heart health can negatively impact the peripheral and central auditory systems. The good news is that improving cardiovascular health will have a positive impact on hearing.
What is heart disease?
Heart disease is a group of conditions (also called cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischemic heart disease, or coronary heart disease) that affect structure and heart function. Approximately 1 in 12 (2.4 million) Canadian adults over the age of 20 live with heart disease.
Types of heart disease include:
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias)
- Structural heart disease
- Heart failure – most often caused by heart attack and high blood pressure
- Heart infection
Why is heart disease linked to hearing loss?
Five small arteries in the ear rely on rich, oxygenated blood flow.
When heart disease reduces blood flow to the ear it damages the auditory system. The inner ear is particularly vulnerable. It has a spiral-shaped structure called the cochlea that contains the hair cells that send messages to the auditory nerve. Reduced blood flow to the cochlea starves it of oxygen which can result in sensorineural hearing loss.
Schematic of circulation of the inner ear, from Schuknecht’s Pathology of the Ear. (Merchant and Nadol, 2010)
What kind of hearing loss is associated with heart disease?
A history of heart disease is significantly associated with low-frequency and high-frequency hearing loss.
Low-frequency hearing loss makes it hard to hear vowels (which have a lower pitch than consonants) and low-pitched sounds such as the hum of a refrigerator or the rumble of a truck.
High-frequency hearing loss makes it harder to hear:
- Consonants
- Women’s and children’s voices
- When there is competing background noise
How can you lower cardiovascular disease risk factors?
While almost no one has the perfect diet or lifestyle, being aware of these factors will help lower your risk of heart disease:
- Healthy diet
- Physical activity
- No smoking
- No or low alcohol consumption
- Reduce stress
Choices we make that are behavioural risk factors (because the risk stems from lifestyle choices we make as individuals) may appear down the road as high blood pressure, elevated sugars and fats in the blood, and being overweight.
Warning signs and symptoms of heart disease
A buildup of plaque in the arteries will create symptoms in your body that you can feel. According to the Mayo Clinic, a narrow or blocked artery may present as:
- Chest pain, pressure, or discomfort
- Feeling cold, pain, or numbness in your arms or legs
- Neck, jaw, throat, back or upper abdomen pain
- For women, symptoms are more likely to present as shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, chest discomfort
If you are experiencing these symptoms, you need to consult a physician. Call 9-1-1 if your symptoms are acute.
How can an Audiologist help?
An Audiologist will identify lifestyle factors that may be affecting hearing health (such as occupation, hobbies or a family history of hearing loss), diagnose the type and degree of hearing loss, and prescribe & fit hearing aids as a solution for hearing loss. If heart disease has been diagnosed, an Audiologist can work with a primary physician to monitor hearing health and treat hearing loss.
Call us or request an appointment online to schedule an appointment: Broadmead Hearing Clinic: 250-479-2969 or Oak Bay Hearing Clinic: 250-479-2921.