Did you know that one missed sense can raise your risk of death as much as heart disease?
A landmark 2025 BMC Geriatrics study tracked more than 31,000 older adults in China and found that the risk of death climbed steadily with the severity of vision and hearing loss. Together, these impairments explained 10.8% of all deaths in the cohort — a burden on par with major chronic diseases. The study showed a clear gradient: mild loss raised risk 15%, moderate loss 26%, and severe dual loss nearly 50%. The message is simple: the more senses you lose, the steeper the risk.
SuperSenses exists because findings like these keep repeating across NIH, JAMA, and now BMC: sensory change is an early, modifiable signal that traditional healthcare overlooks. Hearing aids, cataract surgery, glasses, olfactory training — these are not just quality-of-life fixes, they’re survival tools. But without measurement, people slip through the cracks. SuperSenses makes all five senses trackable — before decline compounds, before independence is lost.
Why This Matters
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Mortality is measurable. This study reported more than 22,000 deaths over just 3 years. Decline in hearing and vision was not background noise — it was a predictor as strong as smoking, obesity, or hypertension.
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Severity compounds risk. Every additional notch of impairment meant higher hazard ratios. A “moderate” score raised mortality by more than 25% — numbers usually reserved for diseases like diabetes.
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Dual loss accelerates outcomes. Vision and hearing together did not just add risk, they multiplied it. Researchers have long suspected compounded decline; this study nails it down with data from the world’s largest longevity survey.
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10.8% of deaths are linked to senses. Imagine if 1 in 10 deaths could be traced to a factor we don’t even track in routine care. That’s the new frontier: sensory health as a vital sign.
The Bigger Picture
This isn’t just China. U.S. and European studies keep pointing in the same direction:
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Johns Hopkins showed hearing loss accelerates brain aging.
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Yale fMRI showed all five senses act as the “power supply” for attention and consciousness.
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Case Western found function can be preserved even when plaques remain — meaning sensory and functional systems may matter more than molecular debris.
Together, the evidence is overwhelming: protecting senses protects lives.
What’s Next
We don’t wait for dementia symptoms. We don’t wait for a fall or a hospitalization. SuperSenses puts sensory health in the hands of individuals, families, and communities — with at-home tools that track smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Each sense is a signal. Together, they’re a map of brain health capital.
Your eyes and ears aren’t just windows to the world. They’re windows to your survival.