Sleep apnea may not only affect the quality of your sleep. New research suggests that the sleep disorder may be linked to hearing loss as well. The study found that sleep apnea was associated with hearing impairment at both high and low frequencies. That finding held true even after the researchers adjusted the data for other possible causes of hearing loss. These findings give further support to the idea that sleep apnea likely doesn't occur in isolation. Instead, it may be a sign of other underlying health conditions, the researchers said. "Sleep apnea is more of a systemic and chronic disease than just something that happens when you're sleeping," said one of the study's authors, Dr. Neomi Shah, an associate director of the pulmonary sleep lab at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "It probably affects multiple different organs, so I would probably urge we start thinking about sleep apnea as more like a chronic disease with vascular and inflammatory issues," Shah add Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/health...Affect_Your_Hearing_.html#cIq4UbclG9D6ACeL.99
