Monica Walker
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Your ears do a lot more for you than just hear! With the help of your ears, you take in information, recall stories and songs you’ve heard, listen in conversations, and even remain steady on your feet.
Our vestibular system is located deep in our inner ears, within the cochlea, which is a snail-shell-like organ in our ears. Hearing loss struggles and balance disorders can sometimes go hand in hand as a result.
I recently came across this interesting study by Joseph Sakumura, Au.D., and Richard Gans, PhD, which details the role of the cognitive, vestibular, and auditory functions in fall risk management.
Falls are a significant cause of hospitalization and even death among older adults; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are responsible for over 800,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths each year in the United States alone.
However, Sakumura and Gans’s study sheds some light on how to lessen the breadth of these statistics: by improving your cognitive, vestibular, and auditory functions, you can avoid a harmful fall and improve your hearing simultaneously.
The Study
Almost 600 adults between 18-89 years of age were examined to better understand the relationship between fall risk and the cognitive, vestibular, and auditory functions.
They found that of all risk factors, the most modifiable and manageable one was hearing loss, which has long been linked to cognitive decline and risk of dementia.
A quote from the study caught my eye here:
“… Patients with even mild cognitive impairment in domains of: visuo-spatial processing, executive function, memory recall, and reaction times are 14 times more likely to have degraded postural stability and elevated fall risk.”
They also referenced another study, which stated that patients with a hearing loss had a 3x higher risk of falling compared to those with unchallenged hearing.
Falls are a significant health concern for older adults, but with recent research and the help of hearing care, you can improve your cognitive, vestibular, and auditory functions and feel steady on your feet once more.
