Let’s be clear: there are a few ways that you can maintain your mental acuteness and ward off conditions like cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Staying social is one of the most significant while participating in the workforce appears to be another. Whatever methods you employ to deal with cognitive decline, however, keeping your hearing strong and using hearing aids if you need them will be extremely helpful.
Numerous studies show that the conditions listed above are all connected to neglected hearing loss. What follows is a look at why hearing loss can lead to extreme problems with your mental health and how strategies like hearing aids can help you keep your brain running at a higher level for a longer period of time.
The Link Between Hearing Loss And Cognitive Decline
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have carried out numerous studies over the years to examine the connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss. The results of each study revealed the same story: cognitive decline was more prevalent with individuals who experience hearing loss. In fact, one study showed that individuals with hearing loss were 24% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with healthy hearing.
Hearing loss by itself does not cause dementia, but there is a connection between these conditions. When you can’t effectively process sound your brain has to work overtime according to leading theories. That means that activities like cognition and memory, which demand more energy, can’t function efficiently because your brain has to use so much of that energy on more simple tasks.
Hearing loss can also have a severe impact on your mental health. Studies have shown that hearing loss is linked to anxiety, depression, and might even influence schizophrenia. All of these conditions also lead to cognitive decline – as mentioned above, one of the best ways to safeguard your mental sharpness is to remain socially active. Frequently, people who have hearing loss will turn to self isolation because they feel self conscious around other people. The lack of human contact can produce the other mental health issues mentioned above and potentially lead to cognitive impairments.
Keeping Your Mental Faculties Sharp With Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are probably one of the best tools we have to preserve mental sharpness and combat conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The issue is that only one in seven of the millions of people over the age of 50 who suffer from hearing impairment actually use a hearing aid. People might stay away from hearing aids because they’ve had a negative experience in the past or maybe they hold some kind of stigma, but the fact is that they are proven to help people hear better and retain their cognitive functions for longer periods of time.
There are circumstances where particular sounds will have to be relearned because they’ve been forgotten after extended 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.
Get in touch with us today to find out what options are available to help you begin hearing better in this decade and beyond.