What’s the Connection Between Hearing Impairment and Dementia?

Hearing test showing ear of senior man with sound waves simulation technology

Want to suck all the joy out of your next family get-together? Start talking about dementia.

The subject of dementia can be very scary and most individuals aren’t going to go out of their way to talk about it. A degenerative mental disease in which you slowly (or, more frighteningly, quickly) lose your cognitive faculties, dementia forces you to lose touch with reality, experience mood swings, and have memory issues. It’s not something anybody looks forward to.

So stopping or at least delaying dementia is important for many people. There are several clear connections, as it turns out, between dementia and neglected hearing loss.

You may be surprised by that. What could your brain have to do with your ears after all? Why does hearing loss raise the risk of dementia?

What takes place when your hearing loss goes untreated?

You realize that you’re starting to lose your hearing, but it isn’t at the top of your list of concerns. It’s nothing that cranking up the volume on your television won’t solve, right? Maybe, when you watch your favorite program, you’ll just put on the captions.

Or maybe your hearing loss has gone unobserved so far. Maybe the signs are still easy to ignore. Either way, hearing loss and cognitive decline have a powerful connection. That’s because of the effects of untreated hearing loss.

  • Conversation becomes harder to understand. Consequently, you may begin isolating yourself socially. You may become removed from loved ones and friends. You won’t talk with people as much. This sort of social isolation is, well, not good for your brain. It’s not good for your social life either. What’s more, many people who experience hearing loss-related social isolation don’t even recognize it’s happening, and they most likely won’t attribute their isolation to their hearing.
  • Your brain will start to work much harder. Your ears will collect less audio information when you have untreated hearing loss. Because of this, your brain tries to fill in the gaps. This is incredibly taxing. The present concept is, when this occurs, your brain draws power from your thinking and memory centers. It’s thought that this might hasten the onset of dementia. Your brain working so hard can also cause all manner of other symptoms, such as mental fatigue and tiredness.

You may have thought that your hearing loss was more harmless than it really is.

Hearing loss is one of the leading indicators of dementia

Let’s say you only have mild hearing impairment. Whispers may get lost, but you can hear everything else so…no problem right? Well, even with that, your risk of developing dementia is doubled.

Which means that even mild hearing loss is a fairly strong initial sign of a dementia risk.

Now… What does that mean?

We’re looking at risk in this circumstance which is relevant to note. Hearing loss isn’t an early symptom of dementia and there’s no guarantee it will lead to dementia. It does mean that later in life you will have a higher risk of developing cognitive decline. But that might actually be good news.

Your risk of dementia is lowered by successfully managing your hearing loss. So how can you deal with your hearing loss? There are several ways:

  • You can take some measures to protect your hearing from further harm if you detect your hearing loss early enough. You could, for instance, use ear protection if you work in a noisy environment and steer clear of noisy events such as concerts or sporting events.
  • Set up an appointment with us to identify your existing hearing loss.
  • The affect of hearing loss can be decreased by using hearing aids. So, can cognitive decline be avoided by using hearing aids? That’s not an easy question to answer, but we recognize that brain function can be enhanced by using hearing aids. Here’s why: You’ll be able to participate in more discussions, your brain won’t have to work so hard, and you’ll be a bit more socially connected. Research indicates that managing hearing loss can help decrease your risk of developing dementia when you get older. That isn’t the same as preventing dementia, but it’s a good thing regardless.

Lowering your chance of dementia – other methods

You can decrease your chance of cognitive decline by doing some other things as well, of course. This might include:

  • A diet that keeps your blood pressure down and is generally healthy can go a long way. For people who naturally have higher blood pressure, it may be necessary to take medication to lower it.
  • Don’t smoke. Seriously. It just makes everything worse, and that includes your chance of experiencing cognitive decline (excess alcohol drinking can also go on this list).
  • Get some exercise.
  • Make sure you get enough sleep each night. Some studies have linked a higher risk of dementia to getting fewer than four hours of sleep each night.

The connection between lifestyle, hearing loss, and dementia is still being studied by scientists. It’s a complicated disease with a matrix of causes. But the lower your risk, the better.

Hearing is its own benefit

So, hearing better will help decrease your overall risk of developing dementia down the line. You’ll be bettering your life now, not just in the future. Imagine, no more solitary visits to the store, no more lost conversations, no more misunderstandings.

It’s no fun missing out on life’s important moments. And taking steps to deal with your hearing loss, maybe 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

The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.

Questions?

    Beach Audiology

    Myrtle Beach, SC

    950 48th Ave N Suite 203Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

    Call or Text: 843-438-5062

    Fax:
    844-444-0901

    Monday through Thursday, 9am – 5pm
    Friday, by appointment only

    Myrtle Beach, SC Google Business Profile

    Find out how we can help!

    Call or Text Us