Make no mistake: Keeping your mind clear and avoiding cognitive disorders including dementia and Alzheimer’s can be accomplished in numerous ways. Social engagement and involvement in the workforce are among the most notable. Whichever methods are used to deal with cognitive decline, however, keeping your hearing strong and wearing hearing aids if you need them will be immensely helpful.
Numerous studies show that the disorders listed above are all linked to neglected hearing loss. What follows is a look at why hearing loss can cause serious issues with your mental health and how solutions like hearing aids can help you keep your brain functioning at a higher level for a longer period of time.
The Link Between Hearing Loss And Cognitive Decline
The connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline has been studied numerous times over the years by researchers at Johns Hopkins. The same story was revealed by each study: individuals with hearing loss suffered from dementia and cognitive decline in higher rates than those without. One study revealed, in fact, that there was a 24% higher instance of Alzheimer’s in people who have impaired hearing.
Hearing loss by itself does not cause dementia, but there is a connection between the two conditions. When you can’t properly process sound your brain has to work overtime according to leading theories. That means that activities like cognition and memory, which demand more energy, can’t function efficiently because your brain has to use so much of that energy on more basic tasks.
Hearing loss can also have a severe impact on your mental health. Anxiety, depression, and social isolation have all been associated with hearing loss and there may even be a connection with schizophrenia. All of these conditions also produce cognitive decline – as mentioned above, one of the best ways to maintain your mental sharpness is to remain socially active. Often, people who have hearing loss will resort to self isolation because they feel self conscious in public. The mental issues listed above are frequently the result of the lack of human interaction and can inevitably produce significant cognitive decline.
Keeping Your Mental Faculties Acute With Hearing Aids
One of the best tools we have to combat dementia and other cognition conditions like Alzheimer’s is hearing aids. Sadly, the majority of people who need hearing aids don’t wear them. People may avoid hearing aids because they’ve had a bad experience in the past or perhaps they hold some kind of stigma, but in fact, hearing aids have been shown to help people protect their cognitive function by helping them hear better.
When your hearing is damaged for an extended amount of time, the brain may forget how to recognize some everyday sounds and will need to relearn them. A hearing aid can either prevent that scenario from happening in the first place or help you relearn those sounds, which will let your brain focus on other, more essential tasks.
Get in touch with us today to learn what options are available to help you start hearing better in this decade and beyond.
