Hearing Loss is Associated with a 91% Increased Risk for Dementia

Hearing loss can affect any one at any time, but significantly affects older adults at a disproportionate rate. One in three people 65 and older are affected by hearing loss while this number jumps to half of those 75 years and older. For those rare people, lucky enough to live to be 100 years old, there is a 100% chance they’ll have hearing loss. Age related hearing loss, technically called presbycusis occurs due to changes in the ears as we age. It could be due to several causes such as exposure to environmental toxins, a lifetime of listening, the use of certain medication or chronic diseases which affect blood flow such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Despite the high occurrence of hearing loss in older adults, doesn’t mean it’s a benign condition. Hearing loss is irreversible and leads to far reaching communication and spatial issues. Unaddressed, hearing loss impacts the quality of relationships and the ability to forge new ones. This is a devastating situation to be in for older adults. When the ability to socialize is affected it impacts a person’s self-esteem, likeliness to try new things and overall mood. Seniors with unaddressed hearing loss are likely to isolate – which may further cognitively decline and dementia. In fact, a recent study found that hearing loss is associated with a 91% increased risk for dementia!

What is Dementia?

Dementia is a grouping of neurogenerative diseases which affect two or more cognitive functions such as memory, follow social cues or the ability to follow a process (such as a recipe). The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention report that “Current estimates are that about 5.8 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, including 5.6 million aged 65 and older.” Older adults are the most at risk for dementia though they add “about 200,000 under age 65 with younger-onset Alzheimer's.”

Modifiable Factors

While there is no cure for dementia, there are a wide range of factors which increase your risk throughout your life. Many of these factors cannot be changes such as “gender” or family history, however, many can be modified to lower your risk. Some of these include eating a balanced diet, regular exercise, staying social and addressing hearing loss.

Hearing Loss Poses a 91% Risk

Hearing loss makes it more difficult to communicate in your everyday life with loved ones, nurses, doctors, co-workers, and people throughout the day. A recent study from the University of Oxford in England, published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, found that difficulties hearing spoken conversations is associated with a 91% increase in the risk of dementia!

The researchers investigated a cohort of 82,039 people of all genders, aged 60 years and older who did not currently suffer from dementia. The participants were asked to identify spoken numbers against a background of white noise. They used this gage to determine if the participant had normal, insufficient, or poor hearing. Over an 11-year follow-up period, the researchers noted that 1,285 participants were identified as developing dementia, based on hospital inpatient and death register records. They found that an speech-in-noise hearing impairment was associated with a 91% increased risk of dementia, while for participants with insufficient hearing, there was a 61% increased risk of dementia.

Dr Thomas Littlejohns, a senior author of the study, eplaines: ‘Dementia affects millions of individuals worldwide, with the number of cases projected to treble in the next few decades. However, there is growing evidence that developing dementia is not inevitable and that the risk could be reduced by treating pre-existing conditions.

Dr Littlejohns added: ‘Whilst preliminary, these results suggest speech-in-noise hearing impairment could represent a promising target for dementia prevention.

Dr Katy Stubbs from Alzheimer’s Research UK explains: ‘While most people think of memory problems when we hear the word dementia, this is far from the whole story. Many people with dementia will experience difficulty following speech in a noisy environment. This study suggests that these hearing changes may not just be a symptom of dementia, but a risk factor that could potentially be treated.

Treating Hearing Loss

The first step in persevering your cognitive health is testing for hearing loss now, before it has a chance to progress. Schedule a hearing exam with us today! We can test your hearing and come up with solutions to improve your ability to hear no matter where you are!