Hearing Loss and Dementia
Hearing Loss and Dementia: new research shows a strong link
The suspicion that there’s a link between hearing loss and dementia has been around for many years.
Both are more common as we age.
Both affect the ability of people to communicate with others and tend to have a negative effect on their quality of life.
But new research published in leading medical journal The Lancet has shown that there may be a strong link between these two common conditions.
According to Dementia Australia, there are 413,106 Australians living with dementia. It’s estimated that around one in seven Australians has a significant hearing loss. This number increases with age.
Many mistakenly believe that dementia is a natural consequence of ageing. Yet, there are many controllable health and lifestyle factors that contribute to the disease.
One in three cases of dementia can be prevented
There’s no doubt more research is needed, but recent research has given hope that dementia can be prevented by controlling certain risk factors such as hearing loss.
Though factors like exercise and diet and their relationship to dementia have been well-studied, little research into the link with hearing loss has been done.
The Lancet Commission report found that, as hearing loss is so widespread, it may have more of an impact on the overall number of dementia cases than any of the other factors they identified.
Alzheimer’s Research in the UK recently received £608,000 to study the emerging link between dementia risk and hearing loss.
“In the UK, over two-thirds of people aged over 65 experience hearing loss. Most do not get the hearing aid treatment they need.
“If they do, they very often stop using them, especially if they have memory problems. With mounting evidence of a strong link between hearing loss and dementia risk, this is potentially a huge missed opportunity for us to tackle the growing impact of dementia and make a real difference to people’s lives,” said Dr Sergi Costafreda Gonzalez of UCL Psychiatry.
“While there is a clear association between the two conditions, the only way to really know if treating hearing loss could lower dementia risk is by running tests in people.”
“We have developed a programme to help boost hearing aid use and this new funding will allow us to test this approach in people at a high risk of developing dementia. We’re hopeful that this work will highlight an approach to help delay the onset of dementia in the long run, and we’re very grateful to Alzheimer’s Research UK for this support,” he said.
For more information on dementia, contact Dementia Australia or take a look at the Alzheimer’s Society UK website. Or contact us to discuss how we can help you with your hearing loss.