How Body Weight Impacts Your Risk for Hearing Loss

Obesity is linked with a variety of health problems from type 2 diabetes to heart disease, but did you know it’s also linked with hearing loss? Researchers, as part of the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, followed over 68,000 women, questioning them about their lifestyle habits whether they had been diagnosed with hearing loss. The results? Women who had a body mass index (BMI) that fell into the obese range were between 17 and 25% more likely to experience hearing loss compared to those of normal weight. In this study, waist size also correlated with greater risk for hearing loss. Women with a waist size greater than 34 inches were more likely to develop hearing loss, independent of body weight or BMI. A large waist size is a marker for a particularly unhealthy type of body fat called visceral fat, a form of fat linked with health problems like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. This study doesn’t prove that obesity causes hearing loss, but there could be some other factors that obese people share that influences the risk, although researchers controlled for many of these variables. What it does show is the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight. Here’s the good news. Other research shows staying physically active may lower the risk for hearing loss, and it can help you lose weight, too. In this study walking four or more hours weekly reduced the risk of hearing impairment by 15%. There’s one more reason to lace up your exercise shoes. Why obesity might cause hearing loss is not yet clear. One theory is that obesity reduces blood flow to the hair cells in the portion of the inner ear called the cochlea. It’s these tiny cells that process and carry sound information to the brain. The take-home message? Watch your body weight, get out and walk most days of the week, and get a hearing test. The earlier you catch hearing loss and correct it, the better your outcome will be. References: Goodman, B. (2013). Obesity may be hard on your hearing, study says. Retrieved from https://consumer.healthday.com/disabilities-information-11/hearing-loss-news-352/obesity-may-be-hard-on-your-hearing-study-says-682811.html Curhan, S. G., Eavey, R., Wang, M., Stampfer, M. J., & Curhan, G. C. (2013). Body mass index, waist circumference, physical activity, and risk of hearing loss in women. American Journal of Medicine, 126(12), 1142.e1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.04.026