According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, there were approximately 597,000 people in Canada, living with dementia in 2020. This number is projected to increase to 955,900 by 2030.
A recent study out of John Hopkins University School of Medicine has found that for people facing a greater threat of cognitive decline, hearing aids could cut their risk by about half (48%). Risk factors for dementia include, elevated blood pressure, higher rates of diabetes, lower education and income, and those living alone.
Hearing loss is common world-wide, but often goes untreated. According to the World Health Organization, at least 700 million people will require help with their hearing by 2050.
According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Frank Lin, over the past decade, research has established that hearing loss is one of the biggest risk factors for developing dementia, but it wasn’t clear if intervening with hearing aids would reduce the risk.
Dr. Lin’s recent study, published earlier in July of this year, has investigated this question.
The study examined more than 3,000 people from two populations – healthy community volunteers and older adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. When the two groups were combined, use of hearing aids were not shown to have a significant effect on slowing cognitive changes. However, when the higher risk group (ARIC patients), were analyzed separately, hearing intervention (counseling with an audiologist and the use of hearing aids) had a significant impact on reducing cognitive decline.
The smaller change over the total population could be because if the healthy, less at-risk participants weren’t seeing cognitive decline much at all, then the hearing aids would not have much to slow down.
There are three mechanisms researchers believe may connect hearing loss to the increased risk of dementia:
- If the cochlea wears out over time, the inner ear may be sending garbled signals to the brain, which then has to work harder and redistribute brain power to understand what it’s hearing;
- Hearing loss may have structural impacts on the brain’s integrity, and parts may be atrophying or shrinking faster, and
- If you can’t hear very well, you might be less likely to go out and participate in social activities (which contribute to our cognitive health).
Dr. Lin recommends that if you aren’t sure about your hearing health, you should get it checked. He also recommends that even if you have only mild hearing loss, you should use a hearing aid, which he describes as a “simple, effective and practically risk-free method to preserve your cognition as much as possible.”
Thanks for reading!