15th June 2015

Link Between Cognitive Decline & Hearing loss

Many people who suffer with hearing loss feel that one of the worst aspects of hearing loss is the sense of isolation it can enforce.  When it is difficult to follow conversations or ‘get the joke’, you can feel cut off from your family and friends.

There is a growing weight of scientific research showing that the isolation resulting from hearing loss can also lead to cognitive decline. This leads to forgetfulness, decreased ability to maintain focus, and decreased problem-solving ability. It also can lead to personality changes.

Studies: Link between cognitive decline, hearing loss

Frank Lin, an otologist and epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is a specialist in age-related hearing loss (ARHL). He has frequently cited two independent studies in the U.S. that show a 25 dB shift in the speech-frequency pure-tone average was equal to nearly 7 years of aging on cognitive scores in older adults. Lin also cites another study saying that, using a rigid definition of dementia, study subjects have 2, 3, and 5 times increased risk for dementia depending on whether they had mild, moderate or severe hearing loss, respectively.

These are quite startling figures, they are massive increased risks for the development of dementia that appears to be directly attributable to untreated hearing loss. The question at heart though is what is the mechanism that causes this increased risk. Another question for the researchers is how much the symptoms of untreated hearing loss are masquerading as dementia symptoms.

Let me explain, some symptoms of hearing loss include answering questions wrongly, mixing up conversational words and occassionally not hearing conversations at all. These problems are directly related to hearing loss, however, they could be construed easily as symptoms of dementia. 

Hearing loss can also change your personality

A newer study at the University of Gothenburg showed that people over age 80 became much less extroverted after they were diagnosed with impaired hearing.  Interestingly, other signs of aging like poor sight and poor health in general did not make those people less outgoing. It was only hearing loss that had the effect on them.

“Our study shows that among all ill-health conditions, a specific functional deterioration such as impaired hearing was unique in its contribution to accelerate the change in personality,” says Dr. Anne Ingeborg Berg of the University of Gothenburg.

Doctors may not check for cognitive decline due to hearing loss

Although the link between cognitive decline and hearing loss has been suspected for a long time, some doctors still do not check for hearing loss when evaluating older patients. This is a real missed opportunity because the benefits of correcting hearing loss on cognition are twice as large as the benefits from any cognitive-enhancing drugs now on the market. It should be the first thing that is focused on.

It also should be the first thing you focus on as you get older, regular checks of your hearing are now more important than ever before. It is more and more obvious that early treatment is the best thing for everybody.