Cincinnati (WKRC) – A new study has revealed that people with hearing loss could be a significantly higher risk of developing dementia.
According to the new studypublished in the Journal of the American Medical AssociationUp to 32% of all dementia in elderly adults may have been caused or linked to hearing loss.
“This affects your brain and when your brain has trouble giving meaning to what people say, it puts pressure on it and it removes memory and thought so that these parts of the brain are no longer stimulated,” said Elaine Backman, specialist in hearing of Belton Hearing Care.
“Any hearing loss is something that should concern you, even a light loss,” she said. She cited a study from the University of John’s Hopkins who said that even “a light loss can double your chances of dementia”.
Backman also gave some suggestions on how to prevent dementia.
“Early intervention with hearing aid or loss processing with hearing aid helps you are again part of the community, to go out and socialize,” she said. “When people do not hear, they no longer go to restaurants, can no longer hear when they get their prescription and cause social isolation.”
According to reports from the National Institutes of Health, hearing aids can reduce the rate of cognitive decline in adults by almost 50%.
“If you have trouble hearing the television, if you are at a dinner with your loved ones and you cannot hear what someone says, you are just sitting laughing when he laughs …,” said Backman as panels, you should have your hearing checked.
