Feel like you may be forgetting something important? It’s not your imagination. Remembering day-to-day things is becoming harder and harder. Memory loss seems to develop fairly quickly once it’s noticed. The more you are aware of it, the more incapacitating it becomes. Did you know memory loss is linked to hearing loss?
If you believe that this is just a natural part of getting older, you would be wrong. There’s always a root cause for the loss of the ability to process memories.
For many people that cause is neglected hearing loss. Is your memory being affected by hearing loss? You can delay the development of memory loss considerably and maybe even get some back if you are aware of the cause.
Here are some facts to think about.
How memory loss can be triggered by untreated hearing loss
They aren’t unrelated. As a matter of fact, researchers have found that individuals who have untreated hearing loss are 24% more likely to develop dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other profound cognitive issues.
There are complex interrelated reasons for this.
Mental exhaustion
At first, hearing loss causes the brain to work extra hard. Listening to things takes extra effort. Now, your brain needs to work extra hard where in the past it just occurred naturally.
It becomes necessary to activate deductive reasoning. You try to determine what people probably said by eliminating unlikely choices.
This puts lots of additional strain on the brain. It’s particularly stressful when your deductive reasoning skills lead you astray. The consequence of this can be misconceptions, embarrassment, and sometimes even bitterness.
How we process memory can be seriously impacted by stress. When we’re stressed, we’re spending brain resources that we should be utilizing for memory.
And something new starts to take place as hearing loss progresses.
Feeling older
You can start to “feel older” than you actually are when you’re constantly asking people to repeat what they said and struggling to hear. This can start a downhill spiral in which ideas of “getting old” when you’re actually not become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Social solitude
We’ve all heard the trope of the person who’s so lonely that they start to lose touch with reality. Human beings are meant to be social. Even people who are introverted struggle when they’re never around other people.
A person with untreated hearing loss slowly becomes isolated. It’s more difficult to have phone conversations. Social get-togethers are not so enjoyable because you need to ask people to repeat what they said. Friends and family begin to exclude you from discussions. You may be off in space feeling separated even when you’re in a room full of people. The radio may not even be there to keep you company over time.
Being alone just seems simpler. You feel older than people your age and don’t feel like you can relate to them now.
This frequent lack of mental stimulation makes it harder for the brain to process new information.
Brain atrophy
As somebody who is coping with untreated hearing loss starts to isolate themselves either physically or just mentally, a chain reaction initiates in the brain. Regions of the brain are no longer being stimulated. When this takes place, those parts of the brain atrophy and quit working.
There’s a high degree of interconnectivity between the various regions of the brain. Abilities like problem solving, learning, speech, and memory are all linked to hearing.
There will normally be a slow spread of this functional atrophy to other brain activity, like hearing, which is also linked to memory.
It’s just like the legs of a bedridden person. Muscles get weak when they’re sick in bed over a long time period of time. They could stop working entirely. Learning to walk again may call for physical therapy.
But the brain is different. Once it starts down this slippery slope, it’s difficult to undo the damage. The brain actually begins to shrink. Doctors can see this on brain scans.
How a hearing aid can prevent memory loss
You’re likely still in the early stages of hearing loss if you’re reading this. It may be hardly noticeable. The great news is that it isn’t the hearing loss that contributes to memory loss.
It’s neglected hearing loss.
Research has revealed that individuals that have hearing loss who regularly use their hearing aid have the same risk of developing memory loss as someone of the same age with healthy hearing. The progression of memory loss was slowed in people who started wearing their hearing aids after experiencing symptoms.
Stay connected and active as you age. If you want to keep your memory intact you should understand that it’s closely linked to hearing loss. Pay attention to the health of your hearing. Schedule a hearing test. And consult us about a solution if you’re not wearing your hearing aid for some reason.
