Cognitive decline and hearing loss, what’s the link? Brain health and hearing loss have a link which medical science is starting to understand. Your risk of getting dementia is increased with even minor hearing loss, as it turns out.
These two seemingly unrelated health conditions could have a pathological connection. So how can a hearing test help decrease the risk of hearing loss related dementia?
Dementia, what is it?
Dementia is a condition that reduces memory ability, clear thinking, and socialization skills, as reported by the Mayo Clinic. Alzheimer’s is a prevalent type of cognitive decline the majority of individuals think of when they hear the word dementia. About five million people in the US are impacted by this progressive type of dementia. Exactly how hearing health impacts the risk of dementia is finally well understood by scientists.
How hearing works
In terms of good hearing, every part of the complex ear mechanism matters. As waves of sound vibration travel towards the inner ear, they’re amplified. Inside the maze of the inner ear, tiny hair cells shake in response to the sound waves to send electrical impulses that the brain translates.
As time passes, many individuals develop a progressive decline in their ability to hear due to years of damage to these delicate hair cells. Comprehension of sound becomes much harder because of the decrease of electrical impulses to the brain.
Research suggests that this gradual loss of hearing isn’t just an irrelevant part of aging. Whether the signals are unclear and garbled, the brain will try to decipher them anyway. That effort puts stress on the ear, making the individual struggling to hear more vulnerable to developing dementia.
Loss of hearing is a risk factor for lots of diseases that lead to:
- Overall diminished health
- Memory impairment
- Depression
- Inability to master new tasks
- Exhaustion
- Irritability
- Reduction in alertness
And the more extreme your hearing loss the greater your risk of dementia. Even minor hearing loss can double the odds of cognitive decline. Hearing loss that is more severe will raise the risk by three times and very severe untreated hearing loss can put you at up to a five times higher danger. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University monitored the cognitive skills of more than 2,000 older adults over a six-year period. Memory and cognitive issues are 24 percent more likely in people who have hearing loss extreme enough to disrupt conversation, according to this study.
Why a hearing test matters
Hearing loss impacts the overall health and that would most likely surprise many people. For most, the decline is gradual so they don’t always realize there is an issue. As hearing declines, the human brain adapts gradually so it makes it less noticeable.
We will be able to properly assess your hearing health and monitor any changes as they happen with regular hearing exams.
Using hearing aids to decrease the risk
The current hypothesis is that strain on the brain from hearing loss plays a major part in cognitive decline and different kinds of dementia. So hearing aids should be able to reduce the risk, based on that fact. A hearing assistance device boosts sound while filtering out background noise that impedes your hearing and eases the stress on your brain. The sounds that you’re hearing will get through without as much effort.
There’s no rule that says individuals with normal hearing won’t develop dementia. What science thinks is that hearing loss accelerates the decline in the brain, raising the risk of cognitive problems. The key to reducing that risk is routine hearing exams to diagnose and manage gradual hearing loss before it can have an affect on brain health.
If you’re concerned that you may be dealing with hearing loss, call us today to schedule your hearing assessment.
