Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Are Linked to Higher Rates of Heart Disease in American Adults

NHANES data links hearing loss and tinnitus to higher rates of cardiovascular disease in US adults, adding evidence that hearing reflects whole-body health.

The ear is one of the most blood-hungry organs in the body for its size. The delicate sensory cells of the inner ear depend on a constant, rich supply of oxygen, which is why researchers increasingly treat hearing as a window into circulatory health.

A new analysis of a major US national health survey asks a direct question: are adults with hearing loss or tinnitus more likely to also have atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the artery-clogging condition behind most heart attacks and many strokes?

Background: Why the Researchers Looked at This

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or ASCVD, develops when fatty deposits stiffen and narrow the arteries. It includes coronary heart disease, heart attack, angina, and stroke. Because the inner ear is fed by very small vessels with little backup circulation, damage from poor blood flow can show up there early.

Tinnitus, the perception of ringing or buzzing without an outside sound source, has also been tied to vascular factors in earlier work, but the evidence connecting these three conditions in one large, representative population has been thin.

The research team set out to measure those overlaps in a nationally representative sample of US adults, and to test whether the associations survive after accounting for age, sex, and other health factors.

How the Study Was Done

The researchers drew on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a long-running program in which US adults complete interviews and physical examinations. Starting from 19,225 participants aged 20 and older in the 2015 to 2018 cycles, they analyzed the 4,320 adults with complete data on hearing, tinnitus, and cardiovascular status. The average age was about 50.

They then used multivariable logistic regression, a statistical method that estimates how strongly two conditions are linked while holding other factors steady, and ran subgroup checks to see whether the pattern held across different kinds of people.

What the Researchers Found

In the analyzed group, 452 adults, about one in ten, had ASCVD. Adults with hearing loss were far more likely to be among them. Before adjustment, their odds of having ASCVD were roughly 3.6 times higher than adults with normal hearing.

Much of that gap reflects age and other health differences, but the link did not disappear when the researchers controlled for them. After full adjustment, hearing loss remained associated with 49 percent higher odds of ASCVD.

Tinnitus told a similar story. Adults reporting tinnitus had about 2.4 times the unadjusted odds of ASCVD, and after adjustment they still carried 63 percent higher odds, an independent association slightly stronger than that seen for hearing loss.

The authors describe the associations as robust, holding up across their subgroup analyses.

What It Means for People with Hearing Loss

This study does not say that hearing loss causes heart disease or the reverse. What it does suggest is that the two travel together often enough that a change in your hearing is worth mentioning to your doctor, not only for your ears but as part of the bigger health picture. The same goes for persistent ringing: tinnitus is common and usually benign, but it belongs in the conversation at a checkup.

For adults already managing heart disease, the finding runs the other way too. Cardiovascular patients may want to pay closer attention to their hearing, since the data suggest they are a group in which hearing problems cluster.

When Hearing Signals Bigger Health Questions, Clear Everyday Sound Still Matters

A finding like this can make hearing trouble feel like one more medical burden, but day to day the practical need is simple: hearing conversation clearly, especially in noisy places where cardiovascular patients often report the most strain. That is the job newer FDA-OTC hearing aids take on for mild to moderate hearing loss.

Panda Quantum is built for exactly that everyday clarity. It is a 16-channel receiver-in-canal device with adaptive noise reduction aimed at clearer speech in noisy environments, and its optional app-based hearing personalization can tune amplification to your own hearing profile through an in-ear test. It is worth being clear on one point: hearing aids are not a medical treatment or cure for tinnitus, though clearer everyday sound may make tinnitus feel less noticeable for some people.

Quantum runs 20 hours per charge, with a case that provides three additional full charges for 80 hours total, supports Bluetooth for calls, TV, and music, and comes with a 5-year warranty and a 45-day trial that begins when it arrives. Severe or profound hearing loss still benefits most from a clinical fitting. Details at pandahearing.com/products/panda-hearing-aids-quantum.

Limitations of This Research

This was a cross-sectional study, a snapshot in time, so it cannot establish which condition came first or whether one causes the other. Hearing loss and tinnitus were based on survey measures, the analyzed sample was a fraction of the full survey population, and unmeasured factors such as noise exposure history could influence the results. The abstract does not report funding sources or conflicts of interest.

What to Do With This

Treat your ears as part of your health dashboard. If hearing fades or ringing appears, mention it at your next appointment and consider a hearing check, and if you live with heart disease, give hearing the same routine attention as blood pressure. Small signals, caught early, are the useful kind.

Ma L, Huang X, Chen Y, Zhang H, Zeng Y, Chen X, Huang R, Tang X. Association between hearing loss, tinnitus, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among American adults: A cross-sectional study. Medicine. 2026;105(32):e50087. Retrieved from PubMed. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000050087