25 May Hearing Through the Ages: 70+ Group!
This week, we will be discussing the hearing needs of those that are 70+. Each post this week will highlight a new topic in hearing health that is important for those 70+ in age to consider.
Healthy Hearing, Healthier Brain
Recently, a number of studies have linked untreated hearing loss with accelerated brain function decline in older adults. The full article can be found here, but the following is an excerpt from John Hopkins Medicine:
Older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop problems thinking and remembering than older adults whose hearing is normal, according to a new study by hearing experts at Johns Hopkins.
In the study, volunteers with hearing loss, undergoing repeated cognition tests over six years, had cognitive abilities that declined some 30 percent to 40 percent faster than in those whose hearing was normal. Levels of declining brain function were directly related to the amount of hearing loss, the researchers say. On average, older adults with hearing loss developed a significant impairment in their cognitive abilities 3.2 years sooner than those with normal hearing.
“Our results show that hearing loss should not be considered an inconsequential part of aging, because it may come with some serious long-term consequences to healthy brain functioning,” says Lin, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“Our findings emphasize just how important it is for physicians to discuss hearing with their patients and to be proactive in addressing any hearing declines over time,” says Lin. He estimates that as many as 27 million Americans over age 50, including two-thirds of men and women aged 70 years and older, suffer from some form of hearing loss.
More worrisome, he says, only 15 percent of those who need a hearing aid get one, leaving much of the problem and its consequences untreated.
Possible explanations for the cognitive slide, Lin says, include the ties between hearing loss and social isolation, with loneliness being well established in previous research as a risk factor for cognitive decline. Degraded hearing may also force the brain to devote too much of its energy to processing sound, and at the expense of energy spent on memory and thinking. He adds there may also be some common, underlying damage that leads to both hearing and cognitive problems.
Further investigation is ongoing into the effect of wearing devices on postponing this cognitive decline. This emerging topic in hearing health research is very interesting, and will have huge impacts on our approach to hearing healthcare in the future.
Keep the hearing portion of the brain healthy. Exercise it regularly by providing the sound input it needs.