Make no mistake: Keeping your mind sharp and preventing cognitive conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s can be accomplished in numerous ways. Social engagement and participation in the workforce are among the most noteworthy. No matter the method, though, managing hearing loss by using hearing aids makes these activities a lot easier and contributes in its own way to combating cognitive issues.
These conditions, according to numerous studies, are frequently directly connected to hearing loss. This article will outline the connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss and how using hearing aids can reduce the likelihood of these conditions becoming an imminent problem.
How Hearing Loss Contributes to Cognitive Decline
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have conducted numerous studies over the years to determine the link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. The same story was told by each study: people with hearing loss experienced dementia and cognitive decline in higher rates than those without. One study demonstrated, in fact, that there was a 24% higher instance of Alzheimer’s in people who have impaired hearing.
Hearing loss by itself does not cause dementia, but there is a link between these conditions. When you can’t properly process sound your brain has to work overtime according to leading theories. That means that activities like cognition and memory, which require more energy, can’t function at full capacity because your brain has to use so much of that energy on more simple tasks.
Your mental health can also be significantly affected by hearing loss. Research has shown that hearing loss is connected to anxiety, depression, and may even influence schizophrenia. All of these conditions also produce cognitive decline – as noted above, one of the best ways to preserve your mental acuity is to remain socially engaged. In many examples, hearing loss causes individuals to feel self-conscious out in public, which means they’ll turn to seclusion instead. The lack of human contact can produce the other mental health issues mentioned above and potentially lead to cognitive impairments.
Keeping Your Mental Faculties Acute With Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are perhaps one of the best tools we have to maintain mental sharpness and fight conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The issue is that only one in seven of the millions of people 50 or older who suffer from hearing loss actually wear a hearing aid. It could be a stigma or a previous negative experience that keeps people using hearing aids, but in fact, hearing aids have been shown to help people preserve their cognitive function by helping them hear better.
There are situations where particular sounds will need to be relearned because they’ve been forgotten after prolonged hearing damage. A hearing aid can either stop that scenario from happening in the first place or help you relearn those sounds, which will permit your brain to focus on other, more essential tasks.
Get in touch with us right away to learn what options are available to help you start hearing better in this decade and beyond.