What’s the connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline? Brain health and hearing loss have a connection which medical science is starting to comprehend. Your risk of getting cognitive decline is higher with even minor hearing loss, as it turns out.
These two seemingly unconnected health conditions might have a pathological link. So, how does loss of hearing put you at risk for dementia and how can a hearing exam help fight it?
Dementia, what is it?
The Mayo Clinic reveals that dementia is a group of symptoms that change memory, alter the ability to think concisely, and decrease socialization skills. Individuals often think of Alzheimer’s disease when they hear dementia most likely because it is a common form. Alzheimer’s means progressive dementia that affects about five million people in the U.S. Today, medical science has a complete understanding of how ear health increases the danger of dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.
How hearing works
The ear mechanisms are quite complex and each one matters in relation to good hearing. As waves of sound vibration travel towards the inner ear, they’re amplified. Inside the labyrinth of the inner ear, little hair cells vibrate in response to the sound waves to transmit electrical impulses that the brain decodes.
Over the years these tiny hairs can become irreversibly damaged from exposure to loud sound. Comprehension of sound becomes a lot harder due to the decrease of electrical signals to the brain.
This progressive hearing loss is sometimes regarded as a normal and insignificant part of the aging process, but research indicates that’s not the case. Whether the signals are unclear and garbled, the brain will try to decode them anyway. That effort puts stress on the ear, making the individual struggling to hear more vulnerable to developing dementia.
Loss of hearing is a risk factor for lots of diseases that lead to:
- Exhaustion
- Irritability
- Depression
- Overall diminished health
- Reduction in alertness
- Trouble learning new skills
- Memory impairment
And the more extreme your hearing loss the higher your risk of dementia. Even minor hearing loss can double the risk of dementia. Hearing loss that is more significant will bring the risk up by three times and extremely severe neglected hearing loss can put you at up to a five times greater risk. Research by Johns Hopkins University tracked the cognitive skills of more than 2,000 older adults over a six-year period. They found that hearing loss advanced enough to interfere with conversation was 24 percent more likely to lead to memory and cognitive problems.
Why a hearing test matters
Not everyone realizes how even a little hearing loss impacts their overall health. For most people, the decline is slow so they don’t always know there is a problem. The human brain is good at adapting as hearing declines, so it is not so noticeable.
Scheduling routine thorough exams gives you and your hearing specialist the ability to correctly evaluate hearing health and observe any decline as it takes place.
Using hearing aids to decrease the danger
The current hypothesis is that stress on the brain from hearing loss plays a significant role in cognitive decline and different forms of dementia. Based on that one fact, you could conclude that hearing aids reduce that risk. A hearing assistance device boosts sound while filtering out background noise that disrupts your hearing and relieves the stress on your brain. The sounds that you’re hearing will get through without as much effort.
Individuals who have normal hearing can still possibly get dementia. But scientists believe hearing loss speeds up that decline. Getting regular hearing exams to diagnose and manage hearing loss before it gets too serious is key to reducing that risk.
If you’re worried that you might be dealing with hearing loss, give us a call today to schedule your hearing examination.
