Want to suck all the fun out of your next family gathering? Start to talk about dementia.
The subject of dementia can be really scary and most people aren’t going to purposely discuss it. A degenerative cognitive disease in which you slowly (or, more frighteningly, quickly) lose your cognitive faculties, dementia causes you to lose touch with reality, experience mood swings, and have memory problems. It isn’t something anybody looks forward to.
So stopping or at least delaying dementia is a priority for many people. It turns out, neglected hearing loss and dementia have several fairly clear connections and correlations.
You might be surprised by that. After all, what does your brain have to do with your ears (a lot, actually)? Why does hearing loss raise chances of dementia?
What occurs when your hearing loss is neglected?
You recognize that you’re starting to lose your hearing, but it isn’t at the top of your list of concerns. You can simply turn up the volume, right? Maybe you’ll just put on the captions when you’re watching your favorite program.
Or perhaps your hearing loss has gone unnoticed so far. Maybe the signs are still easy to dismiss. Mental decline and hearing impairment are firmly linked either way. That may have something to do with what occurs when you have untreated hearing loss.
- It becomes more difficult to understand conversations. You could begin to keep yourself secluded from others as a result of this. You can withdraw from family, friends, and loved ones. You speak to others less. It’s bad for your brain to isolate yourself like this. And naturally your social life. What’s more, many people who experience hearing loss-related social isolation don’t even recognize it’s happening, and they probably won’t attribute their isolation to their hearing.
- Your brain will be working harder. When you have untreated hearing loss, your ears don’t pick up nearly as much audio information (this is kind of obvious, yes, but stay with us). Because of this, your brain will attempt to fill in the gaps. This will really tire your brain out. Your brain will then need to get additional power from your memory and thinking centers (at least that’s the present concept). The thinking is that over time this results in dementia (or, at least, helps it progress). Mental fatigue and exhaustion, as well as other possible symptoms, can be the outcome of your brain needing to work so hard.
You might have suspected that your hearing loss was more harmless than it really is.
Hearing loss is one of the primary signs of dementia
Let’s say you have only slight hearing impairment. Like, you can’t hear whispers, but everything else sounds just fine. Well, even with that, your risk of getting dementia is doubled.
So one of the initial signs of dementia can be even mild hearing loss.
Now… What does that suggest?
We’re looking at risk in this circumstance which is relevant to note. Hearing loss isn’t an early symptom of dementia and there isn’t any guarantee it will lead to dementia. It does mean that later in life you will have an increased chance of developing cognitive decline. But there may be an upside.
Because it means that successfully managing your hearing loss can help you reduce your risk of dementia. So how can you manage your hearing loss? There are numerous ways:
- You can take a few measures to safeguard your hearing from further damage if you detect your hearing loss soon enough. For example, you could avoid noisy events (like concerts or sports games) or wear hearing protection when you’re around anything loud (for example, if you work with heavy machinery).
- Make an appointment with us to diagnose your present hearing loss.
- The impact of hearing loss can be reduced by using hearing aids. So, can dementia be stopped by using hearing aids? That’s hard to say, but hearing aids can improve brain function. This is why: You’ll be capable of participating in more conversations, your brain won’t have to work as hard, and you’ll be a bit more socially involved. Your risk of developing dementia later in life is decreased by treating hearing loss, research indicates. That isn’t the same as preventing dementia, but it’s a good thing nonetheless.
Other ways to lower your dementia risk
Naturally, there are other things you can do to decrease your risk of cognitive decline, too. This could include:
- Get some exercise.
- A diet that keeps your blood pressure down and is good for your overall well being can go a long way. For individuals who naturally have higher blood pressure, it could be necessary to use medication to bring it down.
- Don’t smoke. Seriously. It just makes everything worse, and that includes your risk of experiencing dementia (excess alcohol drinking can also go on this list).
- Getting enough sleep at night is essential. Some research links a higher chance of dementia to getting fewer than four hours of sleep per night.
Of course, scientists are still researching the link between dementia, hearing impairment, lifestyle, and more. There are so many causes that make this disease so complex. But any way you can lower your risk is good.
Being able to hear is its own advantage
So, over time, hearing better will reduce your overall risk of dementia. You’ll be improving your life now, not just in the future. Imagine, no more solitary trips to the store, no more confused conversations, no more misunderstandings.
It’s no fun losing out on life’s important moments. And taking steps to manage your hearing loss, maybe by using hearing aids, can be really helpful.
So call us today for an appointment.
References
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection