Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aids
In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its proposal to
The Link Between Dementia and Hearing Loss
Some recent studies have brought to light the theory that Dementia- a disease that affects memory, and thinking and interferes with everyday life- could be associated with hearing loss. Hearing loss has been connected to a variety of health problems including Dementia. Several studies throughout the past few years have not only shown that the two are connected, but that hearing loss may be the cause of Dementia. But there may be some help.
Hearing loss is considered to be one of the top risk factors for Dementia. According to a recent study, “Hearing loss is estimated to account for 8% of dementia cases. This means that hearing loss may be responsible for 800,000 of the nearly 10 million new cases of dementia diagnosed each year.” This means that if you have hearing loss, you have a greater chance of developing dementia. But what does hearing loss have to do with a disease that affects your memory?
Hearing loss can make your brain work harder, which forces it to strain to hear. And if your brain is working harder to hear, your other thinking and memory systems are not able to keep up as easily. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s article on Hearing Loss and the Dementia Connection, “Hearing loss causes the aging brain to shrink more quickly… hearing loss leads people to be less socially engaged, which is hugely important to remaining intellectually stimulated.” This means that for one, hearing loss can cause your brain to age/shrink more quickly which would deteriorate functions such as thinking and memory; second, hearing loss can cause people to be more anti-social and so the brain is less engaged and active.
Although hearing loss can be inevitable for some, there could be some hope for those at risk for dementia. According to Johns Hopkins, “Johns Hopkins is leading a large National Institute on Aging study to see if hearing aids can safeguard seniors’ mental processes. The study has multiple locations and has recruited nearly 1,000 people ages 70-84 with hearing loss…By early 2023, the study should provide definitive results on whether treating hearing loss will reduce the risk of cognitive decline.” This study could show whether hearing aids could be the hope people with an increased risk of dementia are looking for.
So, hearing loss turns out to be an important connection to dementia and may be the root cause of some cases of Dementia.
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