Want to suck all the joy out of your next family gathering? Start talking about dementia.

Dementia is not a topic most individuals are actively looking to discuss, mainly because it’s rather scary. Dementia, which is a degenerative cognitive disease, causes you to lose a grip on reality, experience loss of memory, and brings about a general loss of mental function. It’s not something anybody looks forward to.

So stopping or at least slowing dementia is a priority for many individuals. There are several clear connections, as it turns out, between dementia and neglected hearing loss.

That might seem a bit… surprising to you. What does your brain have to do with your ears after all? Why does hearing loss increase chances of dementia?

What takes place when your hearing impairment is neglected?

You recognize that you’re beginning to lose your hearing, but it’s not at the top of your list of concerns. It’s nothing that cranking up the volume on your television won’t fix, right? Maybe, when you watch your favorite show, you’ll just turn on the captions.

Or maybe your hearing loss has gone undetected so far. Maybe the signs are still easy to dismiss. Cognitive decline and hearing impairment are firmly connected either way. That could have something to do with what occurs when you have neglected hearing loss.

• Conversation becomes more difficult to understand. You could start to keep yourself secluded from others because of this. You may become removed from loved ones and friends. You won’t talk with people as much. This kind of social isolation is, well, bad for your brain. It’s not good for your social life either. Additionally, many individuals who experience hearing loss-related social isolation don’t even recognize it’s happening, and they likely won’t attribute their solitude to their hearing.
• Your brain will start to work a lot harder. When you have untreated hearing loss, your ears don’t get nearly as much audio information (this is kind of obvious, yes, but stay with us). This will leave your brain filling in the missing info. This will really tire your brain out. The present concept is, when this takes place, your brain draws power from your thinking and memory centers. It’s believed that this might hasten the development of cognitive decline. Mental stress and exhaustion, along with other possible symptoms, can be the consequence of your brain needing to work so hard.

You may have suspected that your hearing loss was more harmless than it really is.

Hearing loss is one of the leading indicators of dementia

Perhaps your hearing loss is mild. Like, you’re unable to hear whispers, but everything else is just fine. Well, even with that, your chance of getting dementia is doubled.

So one of the initial indications of dementia can be even mild hearing loss.

So… How should we interpret this?

We’re considering risk in this situation which is relevant to note. Hearing loss is not a guarantee of cognitive decline or even an early symptom of dementia. It does mean that later in life you will have a higher risk of developing cognitive decline. But that could actually be good news.

Your risk of dementia is lowered by effectively dealing with your hearing loss. So how can hearing loss be managed? Here are a few ways:

• Come see us so we can help you determine any hearing loss you may have.
• You can take a few measures to protect your hearing from further damage if you detect your hearing loss early enough. As an example, you could steer clear of noisy events (like concerts or sports games) or wear hearing protection when you’re near anything noisy (for example, if you work with heavy machinery).
• The impact of hearing loss can be decreased by using hearing aids. So, can cognitive decline be stopped by using hearing aids? That isn’t an easy question to answer, but we recognize that brain function can be enhanced by wearing hearing aids. Here’s why: You’ll be more socially involved and your brain won’t have to work so hard to carry on conversations. Your chance of developing dementia in the future is reduced by managing hearing loss, research implies. That isn’t the same as stopping dementia, but it’s a good thing nonetheless.

Other ways to decrease your dementia risk

Of course, there are other things you can do to reduce your risk of cognitive decline, too. Here are a few examples:

• Exercise is needed for good general health and that includes hearing health.
• Eating a healthy diet, specifically one that helps you keep your blood pressure from getting too high. For people who naturally have higher blood pressure, it may be necessary to use medication to bring it down.
• Getting adequate sleep at night is imperative. Some research links an increased chance of dementia to getting less than four hours of sleep each night.
• Stop smoking. Seriously. It just makes everything bad, and that includes your chance of experiencing cognitive decline (excessive alcohol use can also go on this list).

The link between lifestyle, hearing loss, and dementia is still being researched by scientists. It’s a complicated disease with a matrix of causes. But any way you can decrease your risk is good.

Hearing is its own benefit

So, hearing better will help decrease your overall danger of developing cognitive decline down the line. But it isn’t only your future golden years you’ll be improving, it’s right now. Imagine, no more missed conversations, no more garbled misunderstandings, no more silent and lonely trips to the grocery store.

It’s no fun missing out on life’s important moments. And taking steps to control your hearing loss, possibly by using hearing aids, can be really helpful.

So make sure to schedule an appointment with us right away!

Call Today to Set Up an Appointment

References

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection