Want to take all the fun out of your next family get-together? Start to talk about dementia.
The topic of dementia can be really frightening and most individuals aren’t going to go out of their way to discuss it. A degenerative cognitive disease in which you gradually (or, more frighteningly, quickly) lose your mental faculties, dementia forces you to lose touch with reality, experience mood swings, and have memory problems. It’s not something anyone looks forward to.
This is why many people are looking for a way to counter, or at least delay, the development of dementia. There are some clear connections, as it turns out, between dementia and untreated hearing loss.
That might seem a bit… surprising to you. After all, what does your brain have to do with your ears (lots, it turns out)? Why are the risks of dementia multiplied with hearing loss?
What happens when your hearing loss is neglected?
Maybe you’ve detected your hearing loss already, but you aren’t too worried about it. It’s nothing that cranking up the volume on your tv won’t solve, right? Maybe you’ll just put on the captions when you’re watching your favorite program.
Or perhaps your hearing loss has gone unnoticed so far. Maybe the signs are still easy to disregard. In either case, hearing loss and cognitive decline have a strong connection. That might have something to do with what occurs when you have neglected hearing loss.
- It becomes harder to understand conversations. As a result, you may start to isolate yourself socially. You can withdraw from family, friends, and loved ones. You won’t talk with others as much. This type of social separation is, well, bad for your brain. And naturally your social life. Additionally, many individuals who cope with hearing loss-related social isolation don’t even realize it’s happening, and they most likely won’t attribute their solitude to their hearing.
- Your brain will begin to work much harder. When you have neglected hearing loss, your ears don’t pick up nearly as much audio information (this is sort of obvious, yes, but stick with us). This will leave your brain filling in the missing info. This will really exhaust your brain. The current theory is, when this takes place, your brain pulls power from your thinking and memory centers. The idea is that after a while this contributes to dementia (or, at least, helps it progress). Mental stress and exhaustion, as well as other possible symptoms, can be the result of your brain having to work so hard.
So your hearing impairment isn’t quite as innocuous as you may have suspected.
One of the principal indicators of dementia is hearing loss
Let’s say you have only mild hearing impairment. Like, you’re unable to hear whispers, but everything else sounds normal. Well, even with that, your chance of getting dementia is doubled.
So one of the initial indications of dementia can be even mild hearing loss.
So… How should we understand this?
We’re looking at risk in this situation which is relevant to note. Hearing loss is not a guarantee of cognitive decline or even an early symptom of dementia. It does mean that later in life you will have an increased chance of developing cognitive decline. But there could be an upside.
Because it means that effectively dealing with your hearing loss can help you decrease your chance of dementia. So how can you manage your hearing loss? Here are a few ways:
- If your hearing loss is detected early, there are some steps you can take to protect your hearing. You could, for instance, use ear protection if you work in a loud environment and steer clear of noisy events such as concerts or sporting events.
- Come see us so we can help you identify any hearing loss you may have.
- The impact of hearing loss can be decreased by wearing hearing aids. Now, can hearing aids prevent cognitive decline? That isn’t an easy question to answer, but we recognize that brain function can be enhanced by using hearing aids. Here’s why: You’ll be capable of participating in more conversations, your brain won’t need to work as hard, and you’ll be a little more socially connected. Your risk of developing dementia in the future is minimized by managing hearing loss, research implies. That’s not the same as stopping dementia, but it’s a good thing regardless.
Lowering your chance of dementia – other strategies
You can reduce your risk of dementia by doing some other things as well, of course. Here are a few examples:
- Quit smoking. Seriously. Smoking will increase your chance of dementia and will impact your general health (excessive alcohol drinking can also go on this list).
- Get some exercise.
- A diet that helps you maintain a healthy blood pressure and is generally healthy can go a long way. In some cases, medication can help here, some people simply have naturally higher blood pressure; those people could need medication sooner rather than later.
- Getting sufficient sleep at night is imperative. Some studies have linked an increased risk of dementia to getting fewer than four hours of sleep each night.
Needless to say, scientists are still studying the connection between dementia, hearing impairment, lifestyle, and more. There are so many causes that make this disease so complex. But any way you can lower your risk is good.
Being able to hear is its own advantage
So, hearing better will help lower your general danger of developing cognitive decline down the line. But it’s not only your future golden years you’ll be improving, it’s today. Imagine, no more missed discussions, no more muffled misunderstandings, no more quiet and lonely trips to the grocery store.
It’s no fun missing out on life’s important moments. And taking steps to manage your hearing loss, perhaps by using hearing aids, can be really helpful.
So make sure to schedule an appointment with us right away!
References
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection
