Apart from annoying your colleagues, friends, and loved ones, hearing loss is very unhealthy for you because untreated hearing loss increases your risk of social isolation, falls, cognitive decline, and dementia.
Of these health consequences, dementia gets our attention — and it should because it changes lives forever (and ends them).
The evidence
We now have trustworthy evidence linking hearing loss and dementia. For example, consider the following findings from researchers at Johns Hopkins:
- People with mild, moderate, and severe hearing loss have a twofold, threefold, and fivefold increased risk of dementia.
- In people 60 and older, more than 36.4% of the risk of dementia was accounted for by hearing loss.
- For Alzheimer's disease (a type of dementia), the risk increases the following way: for every 10 decibels of hearing loss, the additional risk increases by 20%. In other words, a mild loss of hearing has a significant impact on risk.
► See the results of hearing loss. The image below is an MRI scan of an atrophied brain caused by hearing loss.
What is dementia?
Dementia is the loss of cognitive function. Cognition makes it possible to learn and understand your world. It's your brain at work solving problems and reaching conclusions about what's going on in your life. Cognition entails memory, comprehension, reasoning, computation, problem-solving, and judgment. For cognition to work well, your brain needs information from the outside world delivered by your five senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste).
Symptoms of dementia include memory problems, impaired reasoning, difficulty making decisions and solving problems, diminished ability to communicate, and difficulty understanding what is communicated.
Speaking for normal cognition
For healthy cognition, speech and communication are essential. Healthy hearing makes it possible, but there's a problem: Age-related hearing loss, a natural feature of aging prevalent in people 70 and older, is routinely undiagnosed and, as a result, under-treated.
Why this matters: Hearing-loss research at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons reports the largest decrease in cognitive ability occurred in those whose hearing was just starting to become impaired, just 10 dB off the perfect mark. In other words, any hearing loss should be concerning.
" Most people with hearing loss believe they can go about their lives just fine without treatment, and maybe some can," says Justin Golub, MD, who led the study. "But hearing loss is not benign. It has been linked to social isolation, depression, cognitive decline, and dementia. Hearing loss should be treated. This study suggests the earlier, the better." —ScienceDaily
What did you say?
Hearing loss reduces your ability to sort out speech sounds and word recognition, leading to
- Reduced comprehension
- Diminished ability to understand conversation
- Increased misunderstanding of what is said
Why this matters: Hearing loss makes your brain work harder. It must strain to process the unclear and jumbled sound it receives from your ears. As a result of this extra work, your memory, reasoning, and problem-solving are potentially damaged.
Hearing aids for a healthier brain
Hearing aids improve your hearing by sending clear sound information to your brain. Your brain loves this because it doesn't have to work as hard to interpret speech and other sounds. You're happy too because now you can enjoy conversations in restaurants and other noisy places with less stress and fatigue.
When you treat hearing loss, the big payoff is less risk of dementia. Still, at the same time, you also reduce your risk of social isolation, falling, and cognitive decline. You've improved your life.
Schedule a hearing screening
Our free, 15-minute hearing screenings performed by an audiologist are an easy way to find out if you have hearing loss.
Why guess when you can know?
If you have hearing loss, your audiologist will explain
- How much hearing you've lost
- Whether your hearing needs treatment now or later
- The most effective treatment plan
Crest Hill: 630-633-5060 | Palos Hills: 708-599-9500
