Hearing loss is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
In 2020, and again in its 2024 update, the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention identified hearing loss as one of the potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. Large observational studies have found that people with untreated hearing loss tend to experience faster cognitive decline. These studies show an association; they do not prove that hearing loss causes dementia.
Whether treating hearing loss changes that risk is still being studied. The largest randomized trial so far, ACHIEVE (The Lancet, 2023), found that hearing treatment did not slow cognitive decline over three years in the study as a whole, though it may have helped a subgroup of older adults at higher risk.
What is well established is that treating hearing loss can make conversations easier, reduce listening effort and help people stay engaged with family, friends and activities they enjoy. Hearing loss can make speech harder to follow, especially in noisy places, and the extra effort of listening can be tiring. That is one more reason regular hearing checks matter, especially as we get older.
Since most hearing loss develops gradually over time, it can be difficult to know how well you are hearing now compared with how well you used to hear. Only an accurate hearing test can reveal if you are having difficulty with specific sounds, and if so, how you might be able to hear better.
Those suffering from hearing loss often begin to notice their difficulty in the following circumstances:
Party settings and even small family gatherings can strain hearing to the point where the additional mental effort required to decode what seems like broken speech can become tiresome. Eventually such social situations can become so difficult that those experiencing hearing loss may begin to withdraw from them altogether. Individuals instead begin to prefer less demanding, quieter settings — often away from the precious social contact that enriches our lives and draws us closer to the ones we love.
Reluctance to seek treatment or to wear hearing aids can cause additional stress when individuals — often unconsciously — wish to conceal their hearing loss, and potentially miss out on important communications. Compromised hearing in the workplace, for instance, can have significant effects on job performance and even earning potential.
Untreated hearing loss over extended periods of time can have damaging physical effects, as well, when the auditory system goes unused. Auditory deprivation, as audiologists refer to it, leaves nerves and portions of the brain underused, and — like other parts of the body — if the auditory system goes unused, it can begin to atrophy. Without fail, in our experience, the longer a patient waits to address their hearing loss, the more difficult it is to recover one’s ability to communicate.
Additionally, increasing evidence points to a connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults. According to a study published in January 2013 in JAMA Internal Medicine, adults in their 70s and 80s with hearing loss developed cognitive problems at a rate 30 to 40 percent faster than those without hearing loss.
While the reason for this apparent connect remains unknown, researchers have speculated that social isolation might be a factor. The additional mental demands of having to constantly decode speech might also be a contributing factor to the types of cognitive changes that, over time, can lead to the onset of dementia.
Since most hearing loss develops gradually over time, it can be difficult to know how well you are hearing now compared with how well you used to hear. Only an accurate hearing test can reveal if you are having difficulty with specific sounds, and if so, how you might be able to hear better.
Feel free to reach out to us for any questions you may have or to schedule an appointment. Our team is here to provide you with the support and information you need. We look forward to assisting you!
