Hearing Loss and Dementia
Dementia is a loss of cognitive thinking such as memory, emotions, and reasoning caused by failed nerve cell function. Some forms of dementia include Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia. Contrary to popular belief, dementia is not a part of normal aging. Yet, one in ten Americans age 65 and older have dementia. These people suffer from forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating or learning, mood shifts, and coordination issues.
Recently, scientists have been exploring hearing loss as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. 10% of people aged 40 to 69 years, 30% of people over 65 years of age, and 70-90% of people 85 years and older experience hearing loss. Further research on the linkage between hearing aid usage and decreased risk for dementia can help justify and encourage general use of hearing aids.
Using data from the UK Biobank, 226,046 volunteers, aged 40 to 69 years, self-reported their hearing loss experience and hearing aid usage, while dementia diagnoses were obtained via hospital inpatient records. The study included covariates such as age, ethnicity, education, income, smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, diabetes, insulin, and cardiovascular disease status. By comparison of the response data, researchers analyzed the association between hearing aid use and all-cause dementia.
This analysis was separated between different dementia subtypes: Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and dementia that does not follow the classifications of either AD or vascular dementia. The study also considered variables that affect hearing loss such as age, gender, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Then, the attributable risk proportion was calculated to measure this association quantitatively.
Recently, scientists have been exploring hearing loss as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. 10% of people aged 40 to 69 years, 30% of people over 65 years of age, and 70-90% of people 85 years and older experience hearing loss. Further research on the linkage between hearing aid usage and decreased risk for dementia can help justify and encourage general use of hearing aids.
Using data from the UK Biobank, 226,046 volunteers, aged 40 to 69 years, self-reported their hearing loss experience and hearing aid usage, while dementia diagnoses were obtained via hospital inpatient records. The study included covariates such as age, ethnicity, education, income, smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, diabetes, insulin, and cardiovascular disease status. By comparison of the response data, researchers analyzed the association between hearing aid use and all-cause dementia.
This analysis was separated between different dementia subtypes: Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and dementia that does not follow the classifications of either AD or vascular dementia. The study also considered variables that affect hearing loss such as age, gender, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Then, the attributable risk proportion was calculated to measure this association quantitatively.
There are also other factors to consider when studying hearing loss and dementia. When focusing on differences in dementia diagnoses relating to gender, it was found that the attributable risk proportion for hearing loss without hearing aid use was higher in women with all-cause dementia (35.90%) than men with the same condition (25.93%). Generally, dementia is more common in smokers and people with lower income. On the other hand, factors such as improving social isolation, loneliness, and depression mediated the association between hearing loss and dementia by 1.52%, 2.28%, and 7.14% respectively.
Image Source: geralt
Of the participants in this particular study, 74.5% had no hearing loss while 25.6% had hearing loss. Of those with hearing loss, only 11.7% used hearing aids. It was found that those with hearing loss had a 28% increased risk of all-cause dementia. Of those with hearing loss, those who did not use hearing aids had a 42% higher risk of all-cause dementia compared to those without hearing loss. However, there was no increase in risk between participants with hearing loss who used hearing aids compared to those who did not.
All subtypes of dementia were found to follow a similar pattern of higher risk in those who did not use hearing aids. This indicates that hearing aid use decreases the risk of dementia in those with hearing loss to a similar level of risk that a person without hearing loss would have. Researchers suspect this connection between hearing loss and dementia is caused by the redirection of the brain’s functions to hearing rather than cognition or deterioration of the brain due to a lack of hearing.
Further research on the effect of hearing aid usage and its relation to decreased risk for dementia would help to relieve current hearing aid stigma and encourage more people to use hearing aids. More specifically, society often associates hearing loss with old age and cognitive decline which disincentivizes people to wear hearing aids due to embarrassment and shame. However, this may lead to eventual avoidance of social interactions since these individuals may not want to reveal their auditory improvements. With the continuous development of hearing aids, these tools may be an investment for prevention of dementia and further research can explore this connection.
All subtypes of dementia were found to follow a similar pattern of higher risk in those who did not use hearing aids. This indicates that hearing aid use decreases the risk of dementia in those with hearing loss to a similar level of risk that a person without hearing loss would have. Researchers suspect this connection between hearing loss and dementia is caused by the redirection of the brain’s functions to hearing rather than cognition or deterioration of the brain due to a lack of hearing.
Further research on the effect of hearing aid usage and its relation to decreased risk for dementia would help to relieve current hearing aid stigma and encourage more people to use hearing aids. More specifically, society often associates hearing loss with old age and cognitive decline which disincentivizes people to wear hearing aids due to embarrassment and shame. However, this may lead to eventual avoidance of social interactions since these individuals may not want to reveal their auditory improvements. With the continuous development of hearing aids, these tools may be an investment for prevention of dementia and further research can explore this connection.
Featured Image Source: Mohamed_hassan
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