Hearing aids and eye ops could prevent dementia
DEMENTIA could be prevented by simply wearing a hearing aid or having surgery to improve eyesight, two major research studies have suggested.
While no drug has yet been created to prevent the deterioration of mental faculties, undergoing cataract surgery was found to halve the rate of cognitive decline in a study of more than 5,000 people.
Wearing a hearing aid had an even bigger effect, reducing the decline in memory and thinking skills by more than 75 per cent.
Experts said that it could prevent many cases of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Asri Maharani, co-author of the studies by Manchester University, said: ‘Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline.
‘We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting – though we can’t say yet that this is a causal relationship.’
Retaining sight and hearing can keep people more physically active and socially engaged.
The researchers compared the rates of decline before and after the patients had cataract surgery or started wearing a hearing aid.
One study – which is published in scientific journal PLOS ONE today – looked at 2,068 individuals who had cataract surgery, compared with 3,636 who did not. The research on hearing aids, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society last month, was carried out using 2,040 participants in the American Health and Retirement survey from 1996 to 2014.
Co-author Dr Piers Dawes said: ‘These studies underline just how important it is to overcome the barriers which deny people from accessing hearing and visual aids.
‘It’s not really certain why hearing and visual problems have an impact on cognitive decline, but I’d guess that isolation, stigma and the resultant lack of physical activity that are linked to hearing and vision problems might have something to do with it.
‘And there are barriers to overcome: people might not want to wear hearing aids because of stigma attached to wearing them, or they feel the amplification is not good enough or they’re not comfortable.
‘Perhaps a way forward is adult screening to better identify hearing and vision problems and in the case of hearing loss, demedicalising the whole process so treatment is done outside the clinical setting. That could reduce stigma.’
But last night campaigners highlighted the long waiting lists for cataract surgery – and rationing and delays in getting assessments and prescriptions for hearing aids.
The Daily Mail’s Save Our Sight campaign has shown the scandal of thousands of vulnerable elderly people being denied life-transforming cataract operations.
We have also revealed how hearing aids, which can cost as little as £90, are being rationed in parts of the country.
NICE guidelines say devices should be offered ‘ at the first opportunity’ after hearing loss is detected. But some health boards have stopped giving hearing aids to patients with moderate hearing loss – suggesting instead they lipread. Hearing loss is most common in the elderly and is expected to affect 13million people – a fifth of the population – by 2035.
Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said the research ‘ helps underline why it is so important for older people to have access to good quality hearing aids and eye care’.
She added: ‘Correcting problems with vision and hearing can help open up a world that was previously closed off and reduce some of the isolation and loneliness that these problems can bring.’