A study by Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging suggests new methods of treating and preventing dementia. Dr. Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins noted that while much research has been done on the causes of hearing loss, not much research has been done on the correlation between hearing loss and cognitive brain function.
The study, which researched the connection between hearing loss and dementia, may shed light on why patients with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia. While the reasons behind the link remain unknown, there is reason to believe that patients with hearing loss place additional stress on the brain when decoding different sounds. Over time the additional strain on the brain can play a part in the development of dementia. In addition to the cumulative stress on the brain, hearing loss often results in higher degrees of social isolation, which is known to be a contributing risk factor for dementia and other cognitive disorders.
The study analyzed data collected on 639 people beginning in 1990 by the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA). The BLSA closely monitored these volunteers with annual and semiannual assessments of cognitive function as well as other key health factors.
At the beginning of the study none of the patients had dementia but by 2008, 58 of them had developed some form of dementia or cognitive difficulty. The study found that participants who were somehow hearing impaired at the beginning of the assessments were significantly more likely to have developed dementia by the end.
Interestingly, the study showed that there was also a link between the severity of hearing loss and the likelihood of developing dementia. Volunteers with hearing loss were placed into three categories depending on their degree of hearing loss, mild, moderate, and severe. The study showed that, compared to volunteers with no hearing loss, these volunteers were two times, three times, and five times more likely to develop dementia respectively.
After taking into account other contributing factors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, age, sex, and race, hearing loss was still determined to be a significant factor.
The good news is that paying attention to hearing health can help delay or prevent dementia. Some suggestions to protect your hearing are using ear plugs around loud noises like construction sites, turn down the volume on your TV and devices, don’t use cotton swabs in your ears, and give your ears time to recover by enjoying peaceful and silent moments regularly.
If you think you are at risk of hearing loss, make sure to mention it to your doctor and get a hearing assessment, sometimes the solution is as simple as a hearing aid!