Early hearing tests fend off dementia

Regular checks in your thirties and using digital aids in later life can help detect Alzheimer’s risk

HAVING hearing tests in your thirties can help to fend off Alzheimer’s, an Oxford scientist has said.

Hearing loss is known to be a risk factor for dementia, with a recent study finding that difficulty hearing speech in busy environments could be an early warning sign.

Dr Sarah Bauermeister, senior scientist at Dementia Platforms UK and an academic at the University of Oxford, is calling for people to get regular hearing checks throughout their life to spot any auditory decline that may be a harbinger of future Alzheimer’s. Hearing loss, she says, is the single biggest factor that can increase a person’s risk.

“In my own research, we found that hearing aid users had a 50 per cent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment if they wore their hearing aid compared with those who did not use their aids,” she said.

“Regular hearing checks are very important, and this is across the lifespan, so that it’s normalised to have a hearing check, whether you are 30 or 40 years old. If we normalise hearing checks, it will normalise the wearing of a hearing aid and the stigma will then be reduced.”

Exactly how and why hearing loss has such a strong link to dementia remains unknown, with Dr Bauermeister saying the mechanisms “are not totally clear”.

“When someone has hearing loss they’re having to cognitively work harder on trying to hear conversations and they are not focused on actual cognitive tasks,” she said.

“They become socially isolated and they don’t take part in activities. They don’t go out of their house. Simply, their world shrinks and this could have an indirect effect on cognition.”

A recent review in The Lancet found there to be 12 modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s including hearing loss, education, high blood pressure, obesity and exercise – and these are more relevant at various times of life.

But hearing loss, Dr Bauermeister said, is not only a risk factor for demen- tia in itself but can have knock-on effects which lead to some of the other 11 becoming problematic as it can lead to depression, a lack of exercise and obesity, for example.

Dr Bauermeister believes it is never too late, or too early, to start changing things to help prevent dementia. “The take home message on my side is to start as early as possible,” she said.

“Four to five risk factors could be impacted by just addressing a main one such as hearing loss and hearing aid use,” Dr Bauermeister said.

Alzheimer’s Research UK has opened an online tool that is designed to help people recognise what they can do to help reduce their risk of dementia.

The “Think Brain Health Check-in” has 12 questions, takes less than 10 minutes to fill in and gives general recommendations about what a person may wish to consider changing to lower their own individual risk.

Participants are asked about their sleep patterns, social lives, hearing problems, smoking habits and blood pressure to assess their general risk.

Prof Jonathan Schott, Alzheimer’s Research UK’S chief medical officer, said: “We hope the Think Brain Health Check-in will show people there are things that can be done to improve their brain health, and provide a practical and easy means to allow them to take action to reduce their risk of dementia.

“While there are no sure-fire ways to prevent dementia yet – risk is likely to relate to a combination of our age, genetics and lifestyle – evidence has shown that there are steps we can all take to improve our brain health.”