Addressing hearing loss early can delay the onset of dementia, according to the findings of a new study done by several universities, including Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study followed people between the ages of 66 and 90 years old for eight years and found a 32% increase in the risk of getting dementia in people whose testing showed confirmed hearing loss.
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This is not a surprise to Dr. Ana Anzola, founder of D.C. area-based Hearing Doctors, who said people do not hear with their ears, they hear with their brain, and troubled hearing can damage the brain.
“If you’re not hearing, you’re overworking the brain, and therefore reducing brain structure over time,” Anzola said.
The study published in JAMA Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery did not find an increased dementia risk in people who self-reported hearing loss during the eight-year period between 2011 and 2019.
Anzola said hearing loss is more prevalent than many people believe, impacting one out of seven Americans.
“Making it a third most common chronic physical condition, twice as prevalent as diabetes or cancer, but many people don’t get their hearing retested or even treated,” she said.
The study also concluded the earlier that hearing loss is treated, it could delay or possibly prevent dementia in older adults.
“Early diagnosis, early treatment is the key to lowering dementia risk,” Anzola said.
She said hearing loss can lead to other serious health conditions too, and that makes treating it earlier even more imperative.
“It is chronic, it is degenerative and it is typically permanent. So we want to treat it as early as possible, so that we can then provide the best hearing health for the rest of their lives,” Anzola said.
Anzola said anyone who suspects their hearing could be diminishing should get tested. Tinnitus, or a ringing in the ears, is also a possible sign of hearing loss.
Even if a person doesn’t suspect hearing loss, testing should be considered later in life.
“We suggest that we start at the age of 50 to really detect if there’s anything clinically significant there that needs or requires treatment,” Anzola said.
WTOP’s Andrew Alsobrooks contributed to this report.
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