Imagine if there were a tech device that could substantially decrease your chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Would you be interested in using it?
Hearing aids are a wearable tech device that may help prevent some cases of cognitive decline and dementia.Such a tech device exists—an anti-dementia device. If you want it to be effective, you should start using it early to prevent the risks of dementia.
Use it before you show any signs of cognitive decline or dementia—sooner is better. But there’s even evidence that it can slow the rate of decline for people already displayingIf we want a device that might prevent dementia, we need to consider some factors associated with dementia. There isn’t a single cause of dementia. So there won’t be a single miracle device that will prevent every case. But we know some things that are predictive of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. One factor clearly associated with dementia is a problem many of us experience as we age. Hearing loss. Many of us will lose some portion of our hearing as we age. I’m at the point of developing hearing loss. I’ve been losing the upper frequencies, making it more difficult to understand what people say. I would love to blame my problems on people mumbling. But when you lose the upper frequencies, sounds get blurry. Maybe you’ve thought the people around you are mumbling, or you need them to turn toward you when they’re talking. Maybe. And maybe you are losing the upper frequencies in your hearing, like me. I wish I could claim my hearing loss was the result of a misspent youth, attending lots of loud concerts. And I did go to some good shows in small clubs. Maybe you’re experiencing some hearing loss because of a well-spent youth or because of the nature of the work you did. But I am losing my hearing for a different traditional reason. I have a family history of hearing loss. I knew this was coming. And here’s the first important point: Hearing loss is associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia . While it is hard to show a direct causal link between any factor and health outcomes, the data on hearing loss and dementia are compelling and concerning. For example, in a longitudinal study involving over 500,000 people in Denmark, hearing loss was associated with a substantial increase in dementia risk over an 8-year period . How much of a risk increase? On average, around 7 percent. But for people with more severe hearing loss, the risk increase was closer to 20 percent. The observation that the risks increase with higher levels of hearing loss supports the idea that hearing loss plays something of a causal role.Why hearing loss is associated with dementia is not completely clear. It may be that hearing loss leads to the decline of. Perhaps the loss of processing speech leads to the loss of a variety of cognitive functions . I would add the loss of social engagement. Social interaction also requires a variety of cognitive processes. Losing that could lead to less neural activity as well.But the longitudinal data are clear: Hearing loss contributes to cognitive declines and dementia. Addressing hearing loss seems critical to forestall cognitive decline.And that leads to the good news: Hearing aids compensate for hearing loss. Importantly, hearing aids decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Looking at that Danish longitudinal study again, getting hearing aids decreased the risk of dementia substantially. Similarly, Naylor and colleagues found in a different longitudinal study that using hearing aids resulted in a substantial decrease in dementia development. But people have to use the hearing aids. Naylor et al. used data from veterans who obtained hearing aids through their health care system. They didn’t simply check if people received hearing aids; they also checked if they used them over the course of the longitudinal study. Persistent use of hearing aids was associated with a more than 25 percent decrease in the chance of developing dementia.If you have a loved one who is already experiencing some mild cognitive impairment , hearing aids can help. Bucholc and colleagues found that people with mild cognitive impairment who used hearing aids had substantially slowed disease progression compared to individuals who didn’t use hearing aids. The findings that hearing aids can decrease and maybe eliminate the risk of dementia are great news. This research is also compelling evidence that losing hearing is a causal factor. If we correct the hearing loss, then people return to almost baseline risks of developing dementia. Hearing aids aren’t going to be a miracle in all cases. While hearing loss is associated with dementia, there are plenty of instances of dementia without hearing loss. There are also other actions that people can take to prevent dementia .I’m happy to have my anti-dementia devices. I started wearing hearing aids recently. They’re great. I like being able to easily hear my students in the back row. My family appreciates that I don’t ask them to repeat themselves. My hearing aids took a little time to get used to. But to be able to hear and track things around me more fully is wonderful. I recommend having a hearing test with a professional if you’re worried about hearing loss. Getting hearing aids has gotten easier. They are also harder for others to see, if you worry about that . Even the newBucholc, M., McClean, P. L., Bauermeister, S., Todd, S., Ding, X., Ye, Q., Wang, D., Huang, W., & Maguire, L. P. . Association of the use of hearing aids with the conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia and progression of dementia: a longitudinal retrospective study.Cantuaria, M. L., Pedersen, E. R., Waldorff, F. B., Wermuth, L., Pedersen, K. M., Poulsen, A. H., Raaschou-Nielsen, O., Sorensen, M., & Schmidt, J. H. . Hearing loss, hearing aid use, and risk of dementia in older adults.Griffiths, T. D., Lad, M., Kumar, S., Holmes, E., McMurray, B., Maguire, E. A., ... & Sedley, W. . How can hearing loss cause dementia?.Loughrey, D. G., Kelly, M. E., Kelley, G. A., Brennan, S., & Lawlor, B. A. . Association of age-related hearing loss with cognitive function, cognitive impairment, and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Naylor, G., Dillard, L., Orrell, M., Stephan, B. C., Zobay, O., & Saunders, G. H. . Dementia and hearing-aid use: a two-way street.Whatever your goals, it’s the struggle to get there that’s most rewarding. It’s almost as if life itself is inviting us to embrace difficulty—not as punishment but as a design feature. It's a robust system for growth.Self Tests are all about you. Are you outgoing or introverted? Are you a narcissist? Does perfectionism hold you back? Find out the answers to these questions and more with Psychology Today.
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