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One thing that we know for sure is that the health of our bodies is intrinsically interconnected. That means that when one system within the body falters, it will surely impact another. Such is the connection between hearing and diabetes.
As American Diabetes Month approaches, use it as the impetus to get your hearing tested. It’s just as important to recognize that prioritizing the health of just one system within the body can bolster our overall health.
What is American Diabetes Month?
Each November, groups and individuals concerned about the threat of diabetes join together to increase education and action around this pervasive health issue. One of the driving features of American Diabetes Month is to spotlight both the importance of diagnosis and prevention, as well as provide resources for people whose health has been affected by diabetes.
How diabetes impacts the body
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that complicates the way that blood sugar is used as energy in the body. In a body without the condition, eating food releases blood sugar, or glucose, into the bloodstream. The pancreas is then triggered to release insulin in response, which acts as the ‘key’ to opening up cells to receive the blood sugar. These blood sugars are imperative to cellular health, they serve as energy for individual cells and are required by our bodies to maintain basic health levels.
But people who have diabetes cannot process blood sugar so easily. Instead, they might have Type 1 diabetes, when the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin for this process. Or, as is the case in Type 2 diabetes, the body doesn’t correctly process blood sugar in a way that keeps blood sugar levels regulated.
Spikes and drops of blood sugar levels, as is common with either type of diabetes, cause harm to the body’s cells.
The link between diabetes and hearing loss
Around 1 in 10 people within the US have diabetes, a strikingly similar number to the approximately 30 million Americans living with hearing loss. What’s more interesting is that there is quite a bit of overlap, diabetes patients experience hearing loss at a rate that is two times higher than that of non-diabetics. And that goes for people showing the warning signs of prediabetes, too: hearing loss is 30 percent more common than it is in people with normal blood sugar levels.
It’s thought that the correlation between the two conditions is the result of fluctuating blood sugar levels, which cause harmful spikes and drops within the bloodstream. These fluctuations can harm the body’s cells, such as those within the inner ear.
How hearing loss works
The inner ear contains irreplaceable tiny cells which are indispensable to the hearing process. Sound travels through our ear canals to reach these cells. Once sound is collected by the inner ear cells, it is turned into sound information in the form of electrical signals that is then sent to the brain’s processing centers. It’s a lightning-quick process and largely unconscious.
The inner ear cells are vulnerable to harm via too-loud sounds, the simple aging process and rely on regular, healthy circulation in order to maintain good standing. When blood sugar levels waver dangerously, as might happen with a condition like diabetes, the health of the inner ear cells is imperiled.
Symptoms of hearing loss
As the inner ear cells lose efficacy, we begin to lose our ability to hear the full spectrum of sound. Frequencies tend to disappear slowly, so that speech clarity becomes an issue. You might find yourself asking people to repeat themselves or even shy away from conversation in general because it feels frustrating. Phone conversations can be effortful and talking to others in noisy situations is particularly challenging.
Schedule a hearing test
It’s never too late to prioritize your health. If you think that you might have symptoms of diabetes, like frequent urination, excessive thirst, weight fluctuations or other common signs, you should have your primary physician perform a diabetes screening.
Attending to a health condition like hearing loss is equally as simple. Schedule a hearing consultation with our highly trained team. They’ll lead you through the easy process of a hearing exam and we will discuss your results and any future potential for hearing health intervention. The path to a healthier tomorrow starts with action today.