If you begin talking about dementia at your next family gathering, you will probably put a dark cloud above the whole event.
Dementia is not a subject most people are actively looking to discuss, mainly because it’s rather frightening. Dementia, which is a degenerative cognitive disease, causes you to lose a grip on reality, experience loss of memory, and causes a general loss of mental function. It’s not something anyone looks forward to.
So preventing or at least slowing dementia is a priority for many individuals. There are several clear connections, as it turns out, between dementia and untreated hearing loss.
That may seem a bit… surprising to you. After all, what does your brain have to do with your ears (a lot, it turns out)? Why are the risks of dementia multiplied with hearing loss?
When you neglect hearing loss, what are the consequences?
Maybe you’ve detected your hearing loss already, but you aren’t too concerned about it. It’s nothing that cranking up the volume on your television won’t solve, right? Maybe you’ll just put on the captions when you’re watching your favorite show.
But then again, perhaps you haven’t detected your hearing loss yet. Maybe the signs are still hard to detect. Either way, hearing loss and cognitive decline have a powerful correlation. That might have something to do with what occurs when you have neglected hearing loss.
- It becomes more difficult to understand conversations. As a result, you may begin isolating yourself socially. You may become distant from loved ones and friends. You won’t talk with people as much. This kind of social isolation is, well, not good for your brain. Not to mention your social life. What’s more, many individuals who cope with hearing loss-related social isolation don’t even realize it’s happening, and they likely won’t connect their isolation to their hearing.
- Your brain will be working harder. Your ears will get less audio information when you’re dealing with untreated hearing loss. This will leave your brain filling in the missing gaps. This is extremely taxing. Your brain will then have to get additional energy from your memory and thought centers (at least that’s the current concept). It’s believed that this could quicken the onset of cognitive decline. Your brain working so hard can also cause all manner of other symptoms, such as mental stress and tiredness.
You might have suspected that your hearing loss was more harmless than it actually is.
Hearing loss is one of the primary indicators of dementia
Let’s say you have only slight hearing impairment. Like, you can’t hear whispers, but everything else sounds just fine. Well, even with that, your risk of developing dementia is doubled.
So one of the preliminary signs of dementia can be even minor hearing loss.
Now… What does that mean?
We’re considering risk in this circumstance which is important to note. Hearing loss isn’t a guarantee of dementia or even an early symptom of dementia. It does mean that later in life you will have a greater risk of developing cognitive decline. But that can actually be good news.
Because it means that effectively dealing with your hearing loss can help you decrease your risk of dementia. So how can you deal with your hearing loss? Here are a few ways:
- Come in and see us so we can help you diagnose any hearing loss you might have.
- Using a hearing aid can help decrease the impact of hearing loss. So, can dementia be prevented by wearing hearing aids? That isn’t an easy question to answer, but we appreciate that brain function can be enhanced by using hearing aids. This is why: You’ll be able to participate in more discussions, your brain won’t have to work as hard, and you’ll be a bit more socially connected. Your chance of developing dementia in the future is reduced by managing hearing loss, research indicates. That isn’t the same as stopping dementia, but it’s a good thing regardless.
- If your hearing loss is caught early, there are some measures you can take to protect your hearing. As an example, you could steer clear of noisy events (such as concerts or sports games) or use hearing protection when you’re near anything noisy (for example, if you work with heavy machinery).
Other ways to reduce your dementia risk
You can reduce your risk of dementia by doing some other things as well, of course. This could include:
- Eating more healthy food, specifically one that helps you keep your blood pressure from getting too high. Sometimes, medication can help here, some individuals simply have naturally higher blood pressure; those people may need medication sooner than later.
- Make sure you get plenty of sleep each night. There are studies that link less than four hours of sleep per night to a higher risk of dementia.
- Get some exercise.
- Don’t smoke. Seriously. It just makes everything worse, and that includes your risk of experiencing cognitive decline (this list also includes drinking too much alcohol).
The connection between lifestyle, hearing loss, and dementia is still being researched by scientists. There are so many causes that make this disease so complex. But any way you can decrease your risk is good.
Being able to hear is its own advantage
So, over time, hearing better will decrease your overall risk of cognitive decline. You’ll be improving your life now, not just in the future. Imagine, no more solitary visits to the store, no more lost conversations, no more misunderstandings.
Missing out on the important things in life stinks. And taking steps to manage your hearing loss, possibly by using hearing aids, can be really helpful.
So make sure to schedule an appointment with us right away!
References
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection
