Let’s be clear: Keeping your mind clear and avoiding cognitive conditions including dementia and Alzheimer’s can be accomplished in numerous ways. Social engagement and participation in the workforce are among the most noteworthy. Whatever methods are used to deal with cognitive decline, however, keeping your hearing strong and wearing hearing aids if you need them will be extremely helpful.
These disorders, according to many studies, are often directly connected to hearing loss. This article will lay out the link between cognitive decline and hearing loss and how using hearing aids can decrease the likelihood of these conditions becoming an impending issue.
How Hearing Loss Contributes to Cognitive Decline
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have conducted numerous studies over the years to examine the link between cognitive decline and hearing loss. The results of each study told the same story: people with hearing loss suffered from dementia and cognitive decline in higher rates than those without. Actually, one study demonstrated that people with hearing loss were 24% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with healthy hearing.
Even though dementia isn’t directly caused by hearing loss there is certainly a connection. When you can’t properly process sound your brain has to work harder according to leading theories. That means your brain is using more precious energy on relatively simple activities, leaving a lot less of that energy for more complicated processes like memory or cognitive functions.
Hearing loss can also have a serious impact on your mental health. Anxiety, depression, and social isolation have all been associated with hearing loss and there could even be a connection with schizophrenia. Remaining socially active, as noted, is the best way to safeguard your mental health and preserve your cognitive ability. Often, people who have hearing loss will turn to self isolation because they feel self conscious around other people. The mental issues mentioned above are commonly the outcome of the lack of human interaction and can ultimately lead to significant cognitive decline.
How a Hearing Aid Can Help You Keep Your Resolution
Hearing aids are perhaps one of the best tools we have to preserve mental acuity and fight conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The problem is that only one out of seven of the millions of people 50 or older who deal with hearing impairment actually wear a hearing aid. People might avoid hearing aids because they’ve had a bad experience in the past or maybe they have some kind of stigma, but the fact is that they are proven to help people hear better and maintain their cognitive functions for longer periods of time.
There are circumstances where particular sounds will have to be relearned because they’ve been forgotten after prolonged hearing damage. It’s important to help your brain go back to processing more important tasks and hearing aids can do just that by stopping this problem in the first place and helping you relearn any sounds the brain has forgotten.
Contact us right away to find out what options are available to help you start hearing better in this decade and beyond.