Wearing Hearing Aids May Prevent Millions of Dementia Cases

According to the 2017 Lancet Commission on Dementia, Prevention, Intervention and Care, dementia has become “the greatest global challenge for health and social care in the 21st century”.¹ And of all global dementia cases, hearing loss accounts for 8%.² In fact, mild hearing loss doubles your risk of dementia, moderate hearing loss triples your risk, and severe hearing loss can increase the likelihood by five times.² But there is hope!

A recent study headed by Dr. Frank Lin from Johns Hopkins University suggests that hearing aid use can contribute up to a 50% reduction in the rate of cognitive decline and dementia.³ Who knew hearing aids had the power to change the world? Let’s explore the vital role hearing aids can play in preventing dementia.

Why You Should Care About Dementia

Why is dementia such an important issue to address on a global scale? This is what the World Health Organization (WHO)⁴ has to say:

• Right now, more than 55 million people have dementia globally.
• Each year, nearly 10 million new cases of dementia emerge.
• Currently, dementia is the seventh leading cause of death.
• Dementia is one of the main causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.
• In 2019 alone, dementia cost economies globally 1.3 trillion US dollars. About 50 percent of these costs correlate with care provided by family and close friends.
• Informal caregivers provide on average 5 hours of care and supervision each day for individuals with dementia. And according to further data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 16 million caregivers in the US alone provide +17 billion hours of unpaid care.⁵

How Does Hearing Loss Contribute to Dementia?

Studies have long linked hearing loss to dementia. Specifically, researchers state that hearing loss is the #1 preventable risk factor of 12 that contributes to dementia development.⁶ Hearing loss severely impacts the way the brain functions:

• Hearing loss shifts the cognitive load of the brain: The brain spends too much energy trying to process what it’s hearing, giving it less time to spend on thinking and memory.
• Hearing loss accelerates brain atrophy: While all brains shrink as we age, in studies, people with impaired hearing had “accelerated rates of brain atrophy.”
• Hearing loss leads to social isolation and loneliness: Social isolation has been associated with a 50 percent increased risk of dementia.

But by simply choosing to look after our hearing health, we can collectively make a difference in the fight against dementia.

Hearings Aids and Dementia

We already touched on this before, but hearing aid use drastically decreased an individual’s risk of dementia by up to 50%.³ By keeping the parts of the brain that process auditory stimulation functioning, hearing aids reduce cognitive burden, stress, brain atrophy, and social isolation. And treating hearing loss could prevent up to 9% of dementia cases worldwide—again, millions of cases per year.²

Join the Collective Fight Against Dementia. Treat Your Hearing Loss Today

The devastation of dementia is real—for those who have it and the people who love them. But by addressing hearing loss with proper treatment, we can collectively reduce the number of dementia cases and the impact on everyone in its wake. Think of all the people that could be given the potential to live full, happy lives, and with the quality of life everyone deserves.

So, if you have been thinking about getting your hearing tested or seeking help for untreated hearing loss, don’t wait. Schedule an appointment today!

References

1. Prof Gill Livingston, MD; Andrew Sommerlad, MSc; Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD; Sergi G Costafreda, PhD; Jonathan Huntley, PhD; Prof David Ames, MD; et al. Dementia, Prevention, Intervention and Care. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)31363-6/abstract
2. Alison R. Huang, PhD; Kening Jiang, MHS; Frank R. Lin, MD, PhD; et al. Hearing Loss and Dementia Prevalence in Older Adults in the US. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2800197
3. Frank R Lin, James R Pike, Marilyn S Albert, Michelle Arnold, Sheila Burgard, Theresa Chisolm, et al. Hearing Intervention Versus Health Education Control to Reduce Cognitive Decline in Older Adults with Hearing Loss in the USA (Achieve): A Multicentre, Randomised Controlled Trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37478886/
4. World Health Organization. Dementia. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
5. Center for Disease Control. Caregiving for a Person with Alzheimer’s Disease or a Related Dementia. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/caregiving/alzheimer.htm#:~:text=The%20majority%20(80%25)%20of,Alzheimer’s%20disease%20and%20related%20dementias
6. Prof Gill Livingston, MD; Jonathan Huntley, PhD; Andrew Sommerlad, PhD; Prof David Ames, MD; Prof Clive Ballard, MD; Prof Sube Banerjee, MD; et al. Dementia, Prevention, Intervention and Care. https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext