Using a hearing aid can slow dementia by up to 75 per cent

WEARING a hearing aid can slow the progress of dementia by up to 75 per cent, according to a study.

Scientists believe that keeping older people engaged and active by adopting the devices can significantly reduce age-related cognitive decline.

They followed the progress of 2,040 individuals between 1996 and 2014, asking them to complete word memory tests at various stages and monitoring the rate of decline before and after getting a hearing aid. The research team found that while the hearing aids did not halt or reverse cognitive decline, they slowed it down by three quarters.

Meanwhile, in a separate group of 2,068 who underwent cataract surgery, decline slowed by around half.

The team at the University of Manchester said the strength of the association between hearing aids, cataract surgery and mental deterioration meant policymakers should consider hearing and sight-loss screening for all older adults.

Dr Piers Dawes said: “It’s not 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.”

The number of people in Britain suffering hearing problems will rise by 40 per cent by 2035 amid a rapidly ageing population, according to the charity Action on Hearing Loss.

The new research was published in PLOS ONE and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.