Gilberts Audiology & Hearing Aid Center - Oklahoma

Woman preventing Alzheimers with a puzzle and using hearing aids.

Make no mistake: there are a number of ways that you can maintain your mental acuity and fend off disorders such as dementia, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease. Social engagement and involvement in the workforce are among the most significant. Regardless of the method, though, managing hearing loss by using hearing aids makes these activities a great deal easier and contributes in its own way to preventing cognitive issues.

These conditions, according to many studies, are frequently directly connected to hearing loss. This article will outline the connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss and how wearing hearing aids can decrease the likelihood of these conditions becoming an impending problem.

The Connection Between Hearing Loss And Cognitive Decline

The link between hearing loss and cognitive decline has been studied numerous times over the years by scientists at Johns Hopkins. The results of each study told the same story: individuals with hearing loss suffered from dementia and cognitive decline in higher rates than those without. Actually, one study revealed that people with hearing loss were 24% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with healthy hearing.

Hearing loss alone does not cause dementia, but there is a connection between the two conditions. The leading theories indicate that your brain has to work overtime when you can’t properly process sounds. That means your brain is spending more precious energy on relatively simple tasks, leaving a lot less of that energy for more complicated processes like cognitive function and memory.

Hearing loss can also have a significant affect on your mental health. Studies have shown that hearing loss is linked to anxiety, depression, and may even affect schizophrenia. All of these conditions also lead to cognitive decline – as mentioned above, one of the optimum ways to preserve your mental sharpness is to remain socially active. In many instances, hearing loss causes individuals to feel self-conscious around others, which means they’ll turn to seclusion instead. The lack of human interaction can cause the other mental health problems mentioned above and potentially lead to cognitive impairments.

How a Hearing Aid Can Help You Keep Your Resolution

Hearing aids are possibly one of the best tools we have to maintain mental sharpness and fight conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, the majority of people who need hearing aids don’t use them. It may be a stigma or a previous bad experience that keeps people using hearing aids, but the fact is that they are proven to help people hear better and preserve their cognitive functions for longer periods of time.

There are circumstances where certain sounds will need to be relearned because they’ve been forgotten after prolonged hearing damage. A hearing aid can either prevent that scenario from occurring in the first place or help you relearn those sounds, which will permit your brain to focus on other, more essential tasks.

Contact us today to find out what options are available to help you start hearing better in this decade and beyond.

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The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.
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