United States – A major quantitative study with French participants demonstrate that hearing loss in adults is directly linked to dementia. Directed by Dr. Baptiste Grenier from Université Paris Cité, the study will be available in the JAMA Network Open on October 1. In addition to this, the team notes that modifiable risk factors are highlighted given the magnitude of disability and the absence of treatments for cognitive decline.
This paper focuses at analyzing the connectivity between social isolation and brain health.
The researchers say that such people accept isolation and often have poor cognitive skills due to social isolation caused by the disease. Further, lack of sound input over time lowers the brain size in specific regions that govern thinking skills, as reported by HealthDay.
Hearing Aid Prescription for Quality of Life
However, the authors advise that disabling hearing loss be treated by hearing aid through hearing aid primarily to improve the quality of life rather than contain the effects of cognitive decline. They suggest that future work should focus on determining hearing aids’ possible positive impact on cognition.
Study Details and Findings
Grenier’s team examined data for 62,715 patients aged 45 or older in France for the period from January 2012 to December 2020. Participants underwent tests for cognitive ability and hearing, revealing the following:
- 49% had normal hearing
- 38% had mild hearing loss
- 10% of the illiterate people have got disabling hearing loss without a hearing aid.
- 3% used hearing aids
Cognitive Impairment Rates
According to the results, 27% of persons with PHL and 37% of those with DHL demonstrated cognitive decline. However, the pathology was detected in only 16% of participants with normal hearing levels.
Most definitely, the risk of cognitive impairment did not differ between participants with disabling hearing loss who used hearing aids and those who did not use this technological advancement, as reported by HealthDay.
Mental Health Considerations
According to a similar investigation, hearing aids may benefit in avoiding cognitive decline and keeping normal hearing may lessen the chance of depression linked to debilitating hearing loss. To validate these results, the researchers emphasize that more study is necessary.