In honor of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month we wanted to share Better Hearing Institute’s list of 7 health concerns that illustrate how hearing loss is linked to a number of health issues–many of which involve brain function.
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- 1. Cognition: Studies from Brandeis University show that unaddressed hearing loss interferes with a person’s ability to accurately process and make sense of auditory information. People with hearing loss don’t perform as well on cognitive tests as people with good hearing.
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- 2. Dementia: Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging have found that seniors with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia and related problems with memory.
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- 3. Brain shrinkage: Studies show that the brain becomes smaller with age—a phenomenon that is accelerated in older adults with hearing loss. Also, adults with hearing loss were found to have less gray matter in the area of the brain that supports speech comprehension—a structural change that may be due to reduced auditory stimulation to the brain.
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- 4. Risk of falling: According to recent studies, people aged 40-69 with even a mild hearing loss were nearly 3 times more likely to have a history of falling. Experts believe the listening effort demanded by untreated hearing loss hijacks cognitive resources that are needed for maintaining normal balance and gait.
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- 5. Increased hospitalizations: Older adults with hearing loss are 32% more likely to be admitted to hospital than older adults with normal hearing, studies show, and illness or injury is 36% more likely to last longer than 10 days.
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- 6. Mortality: An NIH study showed that older men and women who used hearing aids had a significantly lower mortality risk compared to hearing-impaired seniors who didn’t use hearing aids. The greater risk of dying for older men was from any cause and particularly from cardiovascular causes.
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- 7. Depression: Studies have found that older adults with hearing loss are 57% more likely to have stress, depression or bad moods than their peers with normal hearing. Further, working adults with untreated mild to moderate hearing loss are more prone to anxiety and depression.
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