You could put together an entire book on the benefits of exercise. Exercise helps us to control our weight, reduce our risk of heart disease, improve our mood, elevate our energy, and promote better sleep, just to name a few examples.
But what about our hearing? Can exercise additionally prevent age-related hearing loss?
According to a new study by the University of Florida, we can add healthier hearing to the list of the benefits of exercise. Here’s what they discovered.
The Study
Researchers at the University of Florida began by splitting the mice into two groups. The first group of mice had access to a running wheel and the second group did not. The researchers then calculated how far each of the mice ran independently on the wheel.
On average, the group of exercising mice ran 7.6 miles per day at 6 months (25 human years) and 2.5 miles per day at 24 months (60 human years). Researchers then compared this group of exercising mice with the control group of non-exercising mice.
The Results
Researchers contrasted the indicators of inflammation in the group of exercising mice with the group of sedentary mice. The exercising group was able to keep most indicators of inflammation to about one half the levels of the sedentary group.
Why is this important? Researchers believe that age-associated inflammation damages the structures of the inner ear (strial capillaries and hair cells). In fact, the non-exercising mice with more extensive inflammation lost the structures of the inner ear at a far faster rate than the exercising group.
This produced a 20 percent hearing loss in sedentary mice compared to a 5 percent hearing loss in the active mice.
The Implications
For humans, this means that age-related inflammation can injure the structures of the inner ear, bringing about age-related hearing loss. By exercising, however, inflammation can be decreased and the anatomy of the inner ear—together with hearing—can be maintained.
Further studies are underway, but researchers believe that exercise suppresses inflammation and yields growth factors that help with circulation and oxygenation of the inner ear. If that’s correct, then physical fitness may be one of the most useful ways to counter hearing loss into old age.
About two-thirds of those age 70 and older have age-related hearing loss. Determining the factors that bring about hearing loss and the prevention of injury to the inner ear has the capacity to help millions of individuals.
Stay tuned for additional research in 2017.