Oticon, a global specialist in hearing aids and a recommended brand by Hummingbird Hearingcare, has bridged the gap between lab and real-world hearing aid research and established a link between how changes in sound affect heart rate and the potential for well-fitted hearing aids to reduce stress from noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Providing a glimpse of hope into the future of data-driven hearing aid innovation, the new data collected could one day see well-fitted hearing aids being used to help reduce raised heart rate, resulting in reduced stress, Oticon underlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of its ongoing BrainHearing research programme, which looks at reducing the listening effort of a person with hearing loss, Oticon is working on new ways to determine how changes in sound influence health. Its new hearing research includes a study of heart health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oticon\u2019s novel observations to date include that the sound people live in contributes to approximately four percent of the fluctuation in mean heart rate throughout the day. Most prominently, periods with loud sound increase mean heart rate while access to a better sound quality (i.e., a higher signal-to-noise ratio) reduces this stress reaction and lowers mean heart rate, even when the sound is loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on this data, Oticon says that if hearing technology was used to help reduce the impact of unwanted noisy sound and instead enhance the relevant sounds around people, it would contribute towards maintaining heart health every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you think you may have a hearing loss?<\/strong> It may just be earwax!<\/p>\n\n\n\n