What's that you said? Time for a hearing check

Some hearing loss is common among older adults, but because the condition advances so slowly, many don't recognize they are having a problem. It is not uncommon to blame others for speaking too softly or to wrongly claim a faulty, noisy connection on the telephone is making it difficult to hear.

If you're constantly asking people to repeat themselves, get your hearing checked. Research from the National Institute on Deafness found that older women with untreated hearing loss were also more likely to report symptoms of depression.

Meanwhile, keep a close accounting of how many over-the-counter painkillers you take. A Harvard study found that women who took acetaminophen (the ingredient in Tylenol) or ibuprofen (found in Motrin and Advil) two or more days a week raised their risk of hearing loss.

The study found no connection between aspirin and hearing loss.

For more information on hearing loss and older adults, go to nwsdy.li/hearing-older.