Did you know that hearing loss is the third most common chronic condition in older adults?
In fact, Statistics Canada* estimates that 54% of Canadians aged 40 to 79 years—that’s over 8 million people—have at least mild hearing loss in the high-frequency range. Hearing loss is the most widespread disability, with 53% of adult Canadian men and 46% of women affected.
In North America, May is designated as Better Hearing and Speech Month. It serves as a great reminder to book a regular hearing checkup or a first-time consultation, seek help if you are experiencing any issues, and to be proactive about your health.
Causes of hearing loss
Sometimes hearing loss happens so slowly that the person affected may not even realize how much they are missing. It tends to happen gradually as we age and, more often than not, it’s family members who are the first ones to notice the signs. We often forget that our ability to hear affects the people around us too, and can result in frustrating communication challenges.
Aging is not the only cause. Other factors include heredity, noise exposure, certain chronic conditions, ototoxic substances and medications. Problems with hearing have also been associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Quality of life
The numbers from Statistics Canada are pretty sobering, especially when you consider how much hearing can affect your quality of life. There are a number of important social and health consequences associated with diminished hearing; these include embarrassment, fatigue, anxiety, depression, social isolation, mobility issues, falls, cognitive decline and even dementia. Overall, this translates to a reduced quality of life.
There are more serious risks as well. Patients with moderate to severe hearing loss are three to five times more likely to suffer from dementia, and patients with untreated hearing loss experience a 30-40% faster decline in their cognitive abilities. Individuals with hearing loss often report feeling fatigued, which makes sense given the intense levels of concentration required to process verbal information. It’s this increased cognitive load that is one possible explanation for the associations between hearing loss and dementia—the extra cognitive resources required to process speech come at the expense of those typically used for memory and other cognitive processes. Even for those with mild levels of hearing loss, the risk of cognitive decline and dementia exists.
Common signs of hearing loss
What should you be on the lookout for? These are some common signs that age-related high-frequency hearing loss could be at play:
- Difficulty hearing conversations well in noisy or crowded rooms
- People often seeming to mumble or speak too softly
- Having to ask people to repeat themselves often
- Difficulty understanding a person talking from another room or floor at home
- Finding you have to lip-read to understand conversation
- Having to turn up the volume of the TV or radio
- Difficulty identifying where sound is coming from.
Hearing loss treatment
The first step to treating hearing loss is a hearing test; early recognition and intervention are important. The average delay between when someone first suspects they may have hearing loss to actually seeking help is seven years, according to Statistics Canada. With greater awareness, we can reduce this time considerably and delay the development of any potential issues.
If you recognize any of the above signs of possible hearing loss, book a free hearing test for yourself or a loved one by calling 905-681-HEAR (4327). You can also send an email to [email protected].
In honour of Mother’s Day in Canada on Sunday, May 12, Hearing Well Matters is offering complimentary hearing tests and special discounts to mothers and grandmothers throughout the month of May.
“Getting your wife, mother or grandmother a free hearing test could be a very thoughtful Mother’s Day gift!” says Rob Hamilton, Hearing Healthcare Professional.
For more information, visit Hearing Well Matters or call 905-481-1099. You can also follow the clinic on Facebook.
*Statistics Canada Health Reports, August 2019, Ramage-Morin L., Banks R., Pineault D., Atrach M., https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x201900800002-eng
