New Study Links Sleep Apnea to Hearing Loss

Study links sleep apnea to hearing loss

According to a new study, if you have sleep apnea, you may be at risk of hearing loss.  Research found that people with even moderate sleep apnea “have a 31 percent increased risk of high frequency hearing impairment, a 90 percent increased risk of low frequency hearing impairment and a 38 percent increased risk in combined high and low frequency hearing impairment.”

Snoring causes inflammation or noise trauma which compromises vascular supply to the cochlea (the inner ear) and may be what links sleep apnea to hearing loss. Snoring is caused by relaxed throat muscles narrowing the airways when you sleep. This narrowing of the airways leads to sound-causing vibrations which causes inflammation or noise trauma.

While snoring does not mean you have sleep apnea, temporary cessations in breathing while you are sleeping do indicate sleep apnea. These temporary cessations in breathing while you are sleeping can happen up to hundreds of times a night!

Sleep apnea can be life threatening. If you have sleep apnea, you are also at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, depression and diabetes. These adverse reactions of the sleep disorder sleep apnea are just a few very important reasons to seek a physician’s help for treatment of sleep apnea.

Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois, a premiere snoring and apnea treatment center in Naperville, has been providing the CPAP alternative treatment of oral appliance therapy successfully for over 15 years. For more information on this physician-recommended treatment option, visit www.TiredOfSnoring.com, or call us at (630) 369-5508.

Resource for the above post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/21/sleep-apnea-hearing-loss_n_5332750.html