A head-to-toe check in for your health

At a concert, you walk out and try to talk to a friend, but their words come through muffled and indistinct. That temporary fuzziness is a sign of noise-induced hearing loss, and it's a symptom one billion young people ages 12 to 35 are at risk of developing, according to a 2019 World Health Organization report. The WHO projects that by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss. This episode of Life Kit, hosted by Marielle Segarra and reported by Andy Tagle, compresses the show's best health advice into a head-to-toe tour, drawing on audiologists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, and other specialists. The throughline is simple: your body works with you, not for you, and small, consistent habits—not dramatic overhauls—are what keep it running well.

Your Ears: The Volume and the Hair Cells

Hearing loss isn't just an older person's problem. Ariela Naeem, a senior audiologist at Audio Help Hearing Center in New York City, explains that damage occurs when the tiny hair cells in your inner ear—which convert sound vibrations into signals your brain can interpret—are injured by loud noise, either gradually or from a single blast. The result isn't just about missing sounds; it's about your brain's ability to process them. "When we have hearing loss, that becomes harder to filter out the speech from the noise," Naeem says.