Dementia and hearing loss, what’s the connection? Brain health and hearing loss have a link which medical science is starting to comprehend. It was discovered that even mild neglected hearing impairment increases your risk of developing cognitive decline.
These two seemingly unrelated health conditions may have a pathological link. So how can a hearing test help decrease the risk of hearing loss related dementia?
What is dementia?
Dementia is a condition that decreases memory ability, thinking, and socialization skills, as reported by the Mayo Clinic. Alzheimer’s is a common type of cognitive decline the majority of individuals think of when they hear the word dementia. Around five million people in the US are affected by this progressive form of dementia. These days, medical science has a complete understanding of how hearing health alters the risk of dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.
How hearing works
The ear components are extremely complex and each one matters when it comes to good hearing. Waves of sound go inside the ear canal and are amplified as they travel toward the inner ear. Electrical signals are sent to the brain for decoding by tiny little hairs in the inner ear that vibrate in response to waves of sound.
As time passes, many people develop a gradual decline in their ability to hear due to years of trauma to these delicate hair cells. Comprehension of sound becomes a lot more difficult because of the reduction of electrical impulses to the brain.
This gradual hearing loss is sometimes considered a normal and inconsequential part of the aging process, but research shows that’s not accurate. Whether the impulses are unclear and jumbled, the brain will attempt to decipher them anyway. The ears can become strained and the brain exhausted from the added effort to hear and this can eventually result in a higher risk of developing cognitive decline.
Here are several disease risk factors with hearing loss in common:
- Depression
- Impaired memory
- Irritability
- Reduction in alertness
- Weak overall health
- Exhaustion
- Trouble learning new skills
And the more extreme your hearing loss the higher your risk of dementia. Even mild hearing loss can double the odds of cognitive decline. Hearing loss that is more severe will bring the risk up by three times and very severe untreated hearing loss can put you at up to a five times greater danger. The cognitive skills of over 2,000 older adults were observed by Johns Hopkins University over six years. They discovered that hearing loss significant enough to hinder conversation was 24 percent more likely to result in memory and cognitive problems.
Why a hearing test matters
Hearing loss impacts the general health and that would most likely surprise many people. For most, the decline is gradual so they don’t always know there is an issue. The human brain is good at adjusting as hearing declines, so it’s not so noticeable.
Scheduling regular comprehensive exams gives you and your hearing specialist the ability to properly assess hearing health and track any decline as it happens.
Using hearing aids to reduce the danger
Scientists currently believe that the relationship between cognitive decline and hearing loss is largely based on the brain strain that hearing loss causes. So hearing aids should be able to reduce the risk, based on that fact. A hearing assistance device amplifies sound while filtering out background noise that disrupts your hearing and relieves the strain on your brain. With a hearing aid, the brain won’t work so hard to understand the audio messages it’s receiving.
Individuals who have normal hearing can still possibly get dementia. What science thinks is that hearing loss speeds up the decline in the brain, increasing the chances of cognitive issues. Getting regular hearing exams to diagnose and deal with hearing loss before it gets too extreme is key to decreasing that risk.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment for a hearing test if you’re worried that you might be coping with hearing loss.
