Hearing is a skill most of us take for granted. But a study from last year suggested that adults should listen out for changes in their hearing, as hearing difficulties might be linked to developing dementia at an older age.
In a study of over 80,000 adults over the age of 60, those who had trouble hearing speech in noisy environments had a greater risk of dementia, which is an umbrella term for conditions characterized by memory loss and difficulty with language and other thinking skills.
But there’s an upside, too: The study added to evidence suggesting hearing problems may not just be a symptom of dementia but actually a risk factor of dementia that could possibly alert people, their families, or doctors to its onset before any deterioration begins.
“There has been a particular interest in hearing impairment and whether that can increase the risk of dementia,” said epidemiologist and study author Thomas Littlejohns of the University of Oxford back in July 2021.
This is anecdotal evidence, so take it with a bathtub of salt:
Older folks, who refuse hearing aids, for whatever crazy reason, get slowly locked out of more and more social interaction. I’ve seen them deteriorate pretty quickly, while those, who embraced hearing aids early, had comparatively little trouble.
There is plenty of evidence that challenging and training the brain on intellectual tasks, slows down the onset of dementia. So I’m not surprised and when the time comes, I’ll get those nice hearing aids with Bluetooth and everything.