Hearing Loss Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia

New Johns Hopkins studies show hearing loss more prevalent and linked to dementia

Have you ever avoided a social gathering because you were afraid of feeling lost in the conversation? Have you felt exhausted after straining to hear in a difficult listening situation, and kept away from people for a while afterward? If so, you may be experiencing the social isolation common to hearing loss and recently identified as a possible factor in the development of dementia.

“Researchers have looked at what affects hearing loss, but few have looked at how hearing loss affects cognitive brain function,” says study leader Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Otology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Lin and his team used studied over 600 volunteers whose hearing and cognitive abilities were tested as part of a long-term multidimensional study called the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA) established in 1958. About a quarter of the volunteers had hearing loss at the start of the study, but none of them had dementia.

Participants were closely followed with repeat exams every year or two for nearly 20 years. Researchers found that those who had hearing loss at the beginning of the study were significantly more likely to develop dementia by the end. Of those participants who started with hearing loss, 36% developed dementia over the course of the study.

“Compared to individuals with normal hearing, those individuals with a mild, moderate, and severe hearing loss, respectively, had a 2-, 3- and 5-fold increased risk of developing dementia over the course of the study,” reports Dr. Lin.

In a separate study, Johns Hopkins reported that the hearing loss rate in older adults has climbed to more than 60 percent in a national survey.

“A lot of people ignore hearing loss because it’s such a slow and insidious process as we age,” Lin says. “Even if people feel as if they are not affected, we’re showing that it may well be a more serious problem.”

Further research is needed to determine the exact reasons why dementia and hearing loss are connected. However, one possibility proposed in the study is that dementia may result in part from the social isolation inherent in hearing loss, which is a known risk factor for this and other cognitive disorders.

I don’t mean to scare you, but this study scared me. At the very least, it confirms the need to maintain your hearing health. Hearing loss can happen so gradually it is hard to detect on your own. Regular hearing checks can help you identify loss early, and early is the key. If caught in time, intervention—like hearing aids—may help to delay or even prevent cognitive difficulties.

Perhaps more to the point, hearing aids can help you hear and understand the conversations that matter most to you right now. Hearing aids have come a long way in the last few years. These modern devices are so discreet you won’t need to worry about what others might think. They’ll only know that you’re hearing and understanding better.

State of the art technology also allows hearing aids to do more than ever before. Advanced feedback cancellation and speech preservation features are designed to provide a more natural listening experience and better comprehension. Most models also come with multiple channels that you can program for specific listening environments. So, if you eat out a lot, you can program your hearing aids with settings that will help reduce the background noise and focus on conversations in front of you.

The bottom line is this: hearing aids can help to prevent hearing loss from robbing you of the things you value most—your connection to those you love. Please take steps to make sure your hearing is in good health. Make an appointment with a qualified hearing professional today.