Is treating hearing loss important for brain health?

Hearing loss is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for brain health – especially later in life. It has been identified as the single largest potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia by the Lancet commission. It is estimated that 8% of the modifiable risk of incident dementia in the population can be attributed to hearing loss.

However, research evidence is still building, population based and not always conclusive. It requires long follow-ups and is not speaking to the risk of an individual. Also, the mechanisms for the association between hearing loss and cognitive decline are currently not understood.

Today there is insufficient evidence to recommend use of hearing aids to reduce the risk of dementia.4 However, there are all good reasons to recommend hearing aids in case of a hearing loss for enabling speech comprehension, for engaging in communication, activities and participation in life.

The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly advocates in the 2021 World Report on Hearing that hearing screening followed by provision of hearing aids should be offered to older people for timely identification and management of hearing loss.

Dementia is an umbrella term for a collection of different progressive degenerative brain syndromes which affect memory, thinking, behavior and emotion. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and accounts for up to 60% of all cases.
Symptoms may include:
• loss of memory
• difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying
• difficulty in performing previously routine tasks
• personality and mood changes
 
Dementia is sometimes difficult to differentiate from hearing loss since difficulty communicating is a hallmark of both.

There is currently no cure for dementia. Still, there are medications and treatments which can help with some of the symptoms and exacerbating factors. Focus is, however, on the importance of care, information, advice, and support to enable independence, and facilitate living at home and in the community for as long as possible.