Middle-aged and older adults with trouble seeing, hearing or both may face a higher risk of having a stroke or heart attack than those with good eyesight and hearing, according to a new study in China. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, suggest screening for sensory deficits, treating them with eyeglasses or hearing aids, and focusing on this group's cardiovascular health could help reduce such risks. The analysis likely resonates in the United States, where heart disease remains the No.
1 cause of death, with stroke at No. 5, and an aging population faces more hearing and vision loss. An estimated 13% of children and adults in the U.
S. are visually impaired, while about 15% of adults have at least some difficulty hearing even when using a hearing aid, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But research shows that by the time people reach age 71, more than one-quarter are visually impaired, and 55% of those 75 and older have disabling hearing loss.
In the new study, researchers examined survey data for 11,332 participants from China who were age 45 and older without a history of cardiovascular disease. They had provided information about their hearing and vision in 2011. After seven years of follow-up, 2,156 participants said they'd been diagnosed with a stroke, cardiac arrest, heart attack, chest pains, severe arrhythmias, heart failure or other cardiovascular problems.
Compared with participants who had .