What’s the link between hearing loss and cognitive decline? Brain health and hearing loss have a connection which medical science is beginning to comprehend. Your risk of getting dementia is increased with even mild hearing loss, as it turns out.
Scientists think that there may be a pathological link between these two seemingly unrelated health problems. So, how does loss of hearing put you at risk for dementia and how can a hearing test help combat it?
What is dementia?
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 type 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. Today, medical science has a comprehensive understanding of how ear health increases the risk of dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.
How hearing works
The ear components are very complex and each one matters when it comes to good hearing. Waves of sound go into the ear canal and are amplified as they travel toward the inner ear. Inside the labyrinth of the inner ear, little hair cells shake in response to the sound waves to send electrical signals that the brain translates.
Over time, many individuals develop a slow decline in their ability to hear because of years of damage to these fragile hair cells. The result is a decrease in the electrical signals to the brain that makes it harder to understand sound.
This progressive hearing loss is sometimes considered a normal and insignificant part of the aging process, but research indicates that’s not the case. Whether the signals are unclear and jumbled, the brain will attempt to decipher them anyway. The ears can become strained and the brain fatigued from the extra effort to hear and this can eventually lead to a higher risk of developing cognitive decline.
Loss of hearing is a risk factor for numerous diseases that result in:
- Irritability
- Weak overall health
- Exhaustion
- Impaired memory
- Inability to master new tasks
- Reduction in alertness
- Depression
The likelihood of developing dementia can increase depending on the degree of your hearing loss, also. Someone with only mild hearing loss has twice the risk. Hearing loss that is more significant will raise the risk by three times and extremely severe untreated hearing loss can put you at up to a five times greater danger. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University watched the cognitive skills of over 2,000 older adults over a six-year period. Cognitive and memory issues are 24 percent more likely in people who have hearing loss significant enough to disrupt conversation, according to this study.
Why a hearing assessment matters
Not everyone understands how even minor hearing loss affects their overall health. Most people don’t even recognize they have hearing loss because it progresses so slowly. The human brain is good at adjusting as hearing declines, so it’s less obvious.
We will be able to properly evaluate your hearing health and track any changes as they occur with regular hearing exams.
Minimizing the danger with hearing aids
Scientists presently think that the relationship between dementia and hearing loss is largely based on the brain stress that hearing loss produces. 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 enhancing sounds you want to hear. With a hearing aid, the brain won’t work so hard to understand the audio messages it’s getting.
People who have normal hearing can still possibly develop dementia. What science thinks is that hearing loss speeds up the decline in the brain, increasing the chances of cognitive issues. The key to decreasing that risk is routine hearing tests to diagnose and treat gradual hearing loss before it can have an impact on brain health.
Call us today to make an appointment for a hearing exam if you’re worried that you may be dealing with hearing loss.
