Help With Hearing Aids
There is a lot to learn about using hearing aids and this can be particularly difficult if a person has dementia. Care and support staff can play a vital role in ensuring that a person with dementia benefits reliably from their hearing aid.
Here are some basic tips from Action on Hearing Loss:
- Make sure hearing aids are checked every day to make sure they are working and that the person is wearing them correctly.
- Learn how to use the t-switch and controls on hearing aids, how to change batteries and how to clean hearing aids
- Make sure arrangements are in place for hearing aid re-tubing, repairs and battery replacement. Local audiology departments should be able to help with this.
- Try to minimise the number of lost hearing aids, and ensure that lost hearing aids are replaced as quickly as possible.
- Get to know who to consult to examine ears for wax and to arrange ear syringing, where appropriate.
Why Does Hearing Loss Increase Your Risk Of Dementia
Your ears capture, process, and transmit auditory information to your brain for it to interpret. The result is the experience of hearing. The increased risk of dementia from hearing loss begins when less auditory information reaches the brain.Thanks to recent research, we now know that your brain needs a sufficient amount of sound to function optimally. Healthy hearing achieves this. But with diminished hearing, an insufficient amount of auditory information reaches the brain.It’s true hearing is sound for thinking.It’s true hearing is sound for thinking.
What About Tinnitus And Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease is slightly more common among people who have tinnitus than people who don’t, at least one study has indicated. In that study, conducted in Taiwan, 3.1% of tinnitus patients developed Alzheimer’s over a 10-year period, compared to 2% of those who did not have tinnitus. However, scientists do not know why this relationship exists, and more research is needed.
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The Hidden Risks Of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is frustrating for those who have it and for their loved ones. But recent research from Johns Hopkins reveals that it also is linked with walking problems, falls and even dementia.
In a study that tracked 639 adults for nearly 12 years, Johns Hopkins expert Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues found that mild hearing loss doubled dementia risk. Moderate loss tripled risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.
Why Hearing Loss Is Associated With Dementia
Damage to your ears and damage to your brain doesnt always start off related. But over time, something as simple as hearing loss can become a significant risk factor for cognitive decline, up to and including dementia. Which is not a super fun thought, right?
Because of the way it affects your brain, untreated hearing loss can often cascade into a series of other cognition or health-related issues. Preventing these related issues is just one of the reasons why seeking out treatment for your hearing loss is so important. And, in this case, knowing why hearing loss can cause dementia can help you diminish and control your overall risk.
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What Do You Need To Know
The scientist recommends that a common pathology can underlie both or that the strain of decoding sounds. Scientist utilizes it to crush the brains of individuals with hearing loss, even escaping them make more access to dementia.
Deafness leads to dementia, they make everyone socially isolated, a component of risk for dementia and other cognitive disorders.
We see the deep effect of hearings aids having on our patients every day, said Doctor of Audiology, This study offers information on possible health consequences conclude with hearing loss, including dementia and brain shrinkage.
As an outcome of this and other leading investigations, we are continually educating our people with hearing loss about the link between hearing, Hearing Sol, and cognition.
The concept states earlier that research from other studies had a related hearing loss with marked variations in brain architecture. Whether these brain architectural differences occurred before or after hearing loss.
Hearing Loss & Dementia
Hearing loss and dementia are, unfortunately, connected. Because trouble communicating is an important symptom of both problems, it can be difficult to tell if someone with Alzheimers disease, or a related dementia, is losing the ability to hear. Difficulty speaking and understanding could be a sign of the brain cell damage that makes thinking so hard for someone with dementia, but it could also be a matter of simply not being able to hear.
Hearing loss can make it seem like someone is in the later stages of dementia when they are actually in the middle, or even earlier, stages. In other words, your loved ones cognitive problems may not be as bad as they appear. It can be easy to assume that difficulties are due to dementia when the problem is that its simply too hard to hear. Also, listening and communicating stimulate the brain. If its too hard to hear, someone with dementia may check out rather than work mentally to engage. Checking out makes focus and memory worse, whereas being able to hear improves the ability to concentrate and, in turn, strengthens the brain and slows the decline of focus and memory.
Testing the hearing of someone with dementia is important, and remember that audiology / hearing tests can be adapted for people with dementia .
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What Can I Do
If youre at an increased risk for developing dementia, you need to treat the risk factors. For example, make sure you treat diabetes if you have it. Exercise regularly. Engage in social activities, and get help for anxiety or depression.
There are also several concrete steps you can take to protect your hearing and to treat any hearing loss that might be developing:
- Get Regular Hearing Screenings: A hearing test or a hearing screening can help you spot any deterioration in your hearing in the earliest stages. Even if your hearing is perfect, a screening can help establish a baseline against which to measure any changes in the future.
- Consider Protection for Your Ears: If you are exposed to high-intensity sounds , it is vital that you wear protection, such as earplugs or earmuffs, to protect your hearing over the long term.
- Determine Whether You Need Hearing Aids: If youre already noticing some hearing loss, hearing aids can be a vital tool in preventing an accelerated cognitive decline. With a hearing aid, your hearing wont have to strain your brain so much to hear whats happening around you.
- Stay Active. Make sure you are socially active on a daily basis and using your brain. Physical activity also seems to help.
But keeping an eye on the risks associated with hearing loss and cognitive decline can help you stay on top of your mental health. And that is a happy thought.
Page medically reviewed by Kevin St. Clergy, Audiologist, on May 5, 2020.
How Dementia And Hearing Loss Influence Brain
Really its very vital in case, listening to the impaired impact on the brain. Diverse studies have resulted that hearing loss can negatively have an effect on memory and thinking abilities.
JAMA Internal Medicine found that there is a huge risk of dementia and cognitive decline amongst seniors with hearing impairment.
Hearing impairment in older adults is independently associated with longitudinal research with an accelerated cognitive decline and incident dementia, and in cross-sectional studies, with decreased volumes in the auditory cortex.
Whether peripheral listening to impairment is related to accelerated rates of Genius atrophy is unclear declines in the complete brain and regional volumes in the right temporal lobe.
The above-shown image shows the condition of the brain before and after the severe atopic dermatitis attack at its different stages.
These results had been sturdy to adjustment for multiple confounders and have been consistent with voxel-based analyses, which additionally implicated proper larger than left temporal regions.
These findings exhibit that peripheral listening to impairment is independently related to accelerated brain atrophy in entire Genius and regional volumes concentrated in the proper temporal lobe.
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Management Of Hearing Loss
There are various options for the management of hearing loss. The most commonly used equipment is digital hearing aids. These work by amplifying noise and delivering this to the air canal. It is important that hearing aids are cleaned and maintained and batteries replaced as appropriate.
Audiology clinics usually provide maintenance and battery replacement services. In some areas there are services for care homes where staff are supported to carry out basic maintenance of hearing aids. Care providers should be aware of how to access these.
Other equipment or interventions include cochlear implants, which are suitable for people with severe or profound deafness who cannot use hearing aids.
Assistive technology such as FM or infrared listening equipment and induction loops are also available again, this works by amplifying and directing sounds. Other assistive devices for daily living include vibrating alarm clocks, flashing doorbells and flashing smoke alarms.
We can also make adjustments to a persons environment that can help manage hearing loss, for instance, limiting the amount of background noise and ensuring good lighting to enable people to lipread.
Does Hearing Loss Lead To Dementia
Dementia is a medical term that is used to describe a host of symptoms, characterized by a deterioration in a patients cognitive abilities.
Hearing loss and dementia are more common as you get older. Scientists have found that a persons chances of mental decline seem to go up to worsen their hearing problems.
The investigators also suggest that hearing loss requires so much brain effort over the years to decode sounds into useful information, that those with hearing loss become more vulnerable to dementia.
The sole reason behind linking Dementia and Hearing loss is the amount of effect it provides to the brain. Due to similar activities involved in a similar part of the brain can be a link between hearing loss and dementia.
A person may have dementia if at least two of his mental faculties are affected: the loss of memory and focus difficulty communicating.
If you want to try to lower your chances of hearing loss as you age, try to keep your heart healthy, protect your hearing from loud noises, and dont smoke. Smoking is a big risk factor for sensory loss.
Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimers is a kind of dementia that reasons issues with memory, questioning, and behavior. Symptoms commonly enhance slowly and get worse over time, turning into severe adequate to interfere with daily tasks.
Symptoms of Alzheimers Disease
- Disorientation
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What Is The Relationship Between Hearing Loss And Dementia And Mental Health
Do you find yourself asking What? throughout the day because you cant make out what people are saying? Hearing loss can be very frustrating, but it can also have significant emotional and mental health consequences, including depression, anxiety, anger, and loneliness. Even more concerning is the fact that a growing body of research shows that hearing loss comes with increased risks for cognitive decline and dementia.
Thats bad news for the 2% of 45- to 54-year-olds, 8.5% of 55- to 64-year-olds, 25% of people ages 65 to 74, and 50% of adults ages 75 and older who experience hearing loss that is disabling, according to the latest statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. How does hearing loss impact mental health and cognitive function?
Hearing Impairment Mental Health And Cognitive Decline
Hearing experts have also noted an increased risk for emotional and mental health issues among those with hearing problems, including tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears. The following common psychological conditions seen in people who have trouble hearing are also linked to increased risk of cognitive decline.
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Find A Hearing Care Partner
Keep your edge well into old age. Catch and treat hearing loss early to slow or stop its progression.
Instead of wondering about how a potential hearing loss might affect you, find out where you or a loved one stands. Get a free comprehensive hearing screening from one of our hearing care professionals.
Introduction: Scope And Nature Of The Problem
Hearing impairment in later life is a major clinical issue and a leading association of cognitive decline , presenting significant potential opportunities for dementia diagnosis, treatment and prevention . But how are hearing impairment and dementia related? Hearing loss of any cause tends to limit social engagement and quality of life , amplifies the effects of cognitive impairment and may confound or delay diagnosis of dementia . Conversely, diagnosis of hearing loss and compliance with hearing aids are hindered by cognitive impairment . There may, however, be a more fundamental pathophysiological basis for the association: hearing is a complex cognitive function that, alongside other cognitive functions, is directly vulnerable to the pathophysiological processes that cause dementia .
Evidence that neurodegenerative pathologies target the auditory brain and produce central hearing deficits disproportionate to any peripheral hearing loss was first produced some time ago . More recently, a diverse array of central auditory deficits has been described in these diseases , ranging widely beyond deafness to encompass altered auditory perception, understanding and behavioural responses, with far-reaching consequences for hearing function in daily life. To date, however, the role of the auditory brain in linking hearing impairment to cognitive decline has been largely overlooked.
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The Links Between Hearing And Health
Brain scans show us that hearing loss may contribute to a faster rate of atrophy in the brain, Lin says. Hearing loss also contributes to social isolation. You may not want to be with people as much, and when you are you may not engage in conversation as much. These factors may contribute to dementia.
As you walk, your ears pick up subtle cues that help with balance. Hearing loss mutes these important signals, Lin notes. It also makes your brain work harder just to process sound. This subconscious multitasking may interfere with some of the mental processing needed to walk safely.
Problems With Diagnosis Of Sight Loss
If the person has sight loss, it can make diagnosing dementia more difficult. They may have difficulties with some of the questions they are asked in the assessment, or their sight loss may mask the difficulties they are having.
It is often assumed that if a person has dementia they wont be able to manage a sight test, but this is not true. There are things that can help such as allowing more time, adapting the tests and someone going with them.
It may also be assumed that any problems the person is having are because of their dementia, and people may not think to check their sight.
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Types Of Hearing Loss
People with hearing loss can fall into one of three groups: people who are hard of hearing, those who are deaf and those who are deafened.
In most cases people who are hard of hearing have developed age-related hearing loss. In some cases this has developed through exposure to loud sounds. This is the largest group roughly 90 per cent of the total number of people with hearing loss .
People who are deaf are severely or profoundly deaf. They use sign language as their preferred language and belong to the Deaf community . There are no reliable figures on how many people in the UK use British Sign Language : estimates vary enormously from 22,000 to over 100,000 in the UK . Read the feature on Deafness and dementia to find out more about the issues for people who are Deaf and live with dementia.
I have been a 24-hour carer for my wife for over four years. She has vascular dementia and Lewy body disease. About two years ago she suddenly became unresponsive just staring, wide-eyed when I talked to her. A conventional hearing test proved impossible to conduct but a very patient audiologist, after taking casts of her ears, made aids which could be set to amplify in steps until it provoked a response. This changed her demeanour immediately and, although I can hear the aids output from the leakage of sound from my wifes ears, she now responds and converses.
A husbands story, posted on an Alzheimers Societys website forum
Hearing Aids And Dementia
While its important to understand that there is no current cure for dementia nor specific advice on how to avoid dementia, researchers are investigating ways to protect against its development. In particular, much of the research has been conducted around hearing aids and protection.
An international review published in The Lancet Commission suggested that hearing loss is one of nine key risk factors that could be changed to reduce dementia risk. In particular, untreated hearing loss in mid-life was predicted to be the highest potentially modifiable risk factor for developing dementia, being potentially responsible for 9% of cases.11
A more recent review of a number of studies found that correct and consistent hearing aid use was the largest factor protecting against the cognitive decline linked to dementia.12 It is thought that hearing aid use can help to prevent the cognitive decline associated with hearing loss, which could otherwise lead to dementia. Of course, this does not mean that wearing hearing aids is guaranteed to prevent dementia development. However, it does highlight the importance of regular hearing tests, especially in middle-aged and older adults, to help identify any hearing impairments that may cause problems later on in life. The earlier hearing loss can be identified, the sooner protective measures such as hearing aids can be put in place.
Dementia resources:
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