Dementia and hearing loss, what’s the connection? Brain health and hearing loss have a link which medical science is beginning to understand. It was discovered that even minor untreated hearing loss increases your risk of developing dementia.
These two seemingly unrelated health conditions could have a pathological connection. So, how does hearing loss put you at risk for dementia and how can a hearing exam help combat it?
Dementia, what is it?
The Mayo Clinic says that dementia is a group of symptoms that change memory, alter the ability to think clearly, and reduce socialization skills. Alzheimer’s is a prevalent form of cognitive decline the majority of individuals think of when they hear the word dementia. Alzheimer’s means progressive dementia that impacts about five million people in the U.S. Exactly how hearing health impacts the danger of dementia is finally well grasped by scientists.
How hearing works
When it comes to good hearing, every part of the complex ear component matters. Waves of sound go into the ear canal and are boosted as they move toward the inner ear. Electrical signals are transmitted to the brain for decoding by tiny little hairs in the inner ear that shake in response to waves of sound.
Over time these tiny hairs can become permanently damaged from exposure to loud noise. The outcome is a reduction in the electrical signals to the brain that makes it harder to comprehend sound.
Research reveals that this slow loss of hearing isn’t just an inconsequential part of aging. The brain attempts to decode any messages sent by the ear even if they are jumbled or unclear. The ears can become strained and the brain exhausted from the additional effort to hear and this can eventually lead to a higher chance of developing cognitive decline.
Here are a few disease risk factors that have hearing loss in common:
- Inability to master new tasks
- Memory impairment
- Reduction in alertness
- Irritability
- Weak overall health
- Exhaustion
- Depression
And the more extreme your hearing loss the higher your risk of dementia. Even slight hearing loss can double the risk of dementia. Hearing loss that is more severe will bring the risk up by three times and extremely severe untreated hearing loss can put you at up to a five times higher danger. Research by Johns Hopkins University watched the cognitive skills of over 2,000 older adults over a six-year period. Memory and cognitive issues are 24 percent more likely in individuals who have hearing loss significant enough to disrupt conversation, according to this study.
Why is a hearing assessment worthwhile?
Not everyone understands how even a little hearing loss affects their general health. For most people, the decline is progressive so they don’t always know there is a problem. The human brain is good at adapting as hearing declines, so it’s not so obvious.
We will be able to effectively evaluate your hearing health and track any changes as they happen with regular hearing exams.
Using hearing aids to reduce the danger
The present hypothesis is that stress on the brain from hearing loss plays a big role in cognitive decline and different types of dementia. So hearing aids should be able to reduce the risk, based on that fact. The strain on your brain will be reduced by using a hearing aid to filter out undesirable background noise while boosting sounds you want to hear. With a hearing aid, the brain won’t work so hard to understand the audio messages it’s receiving.
There is no rule that says individuals who have normal hearing won’t develop dementia. But scientists believe hearing loss speeds up that decline. The key to decreasing that risk is routine hearing exams to diagnose and treat gradual hearing loss before it can have an affect on brain health.
Call us today to set up an appointment for a hearing test if you’re concerned that you may be dealing with hearing loss.