Why You Should Schedule a Hearing Test for World Alzheimer’s Month

It’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Month! Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) spends all of September trying to get the word out about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. They also try to get rid of the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s disease. Many people are afraid to say that they forget things more often or that they often get mixed up.

Many studies have linked hearing loss to a higher risk of dementia, but a French study gives us a lot of hope. Even though hearing loss speeds up the loss of brain function, treating it could be the key to lowering your chances of getting dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Hearing loss and cognitive decline

You might think you know everything there is to know about hearing loss, but it affects a lot more than just your relationships.

Hearing loss makes it hard to keep up with conversations, focus, and do other mental tasks. Hearing loss that isn’t treated can lead to several other problems, such as less mobility, a higher risk of slipping, falling, and getting hurt, and a lower quality of life. Hearing loss is also linked to poor physical and mental health, social isolation, and a quick decline in mental abilities.

A French study followed more than 3,500 adults for 25 years to find out how hearing loss affects their thinking ability. Lead researcher, Hélène Amieva from the Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux in France, looked at self-reports from seniors with and without hearing loss to learn more about their hearing health and cognitive abilities. They found that having a hearing loss that isn’t treated speeds up the mental decline of older people.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is more likely to occur if you have trouble hearing. Since hearing loss has been linked to a fast loss of brain function, it’s easy to see why. When you have trouble hearing, the parts of your brain that deal with hearing aren’t used to their full potential. These brain parts are used for something else, get hurt, or even die. This makes your brain get smaller, which speeds up mental decline.

When you lose your mind quickly, you are much more likely to get Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s also hurts the brain. Large groups of cells called plaques and tangles make it hard for the brain to work, separate, and kill them. The hearing loss keeps you from using your brain to its fullest, which makes your brain even weaker and makes it easier for Alzheimer’s to affect large parts of your brain.

How to treat hearing loss

Treating your hearing loss is the best thing you can do for your brain and mental health. In a French study, adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids or cochlear implants didn’t lose their mental abilities as quickly as their peers who didn’t use hearing aids. Their thinking skills were the same as those of seniors who had never had hearing loss. This means that treating hearing loss keeps your brain healthy and could be the key to lowering your Alzheimer’s disease risk.

Treating hearing loss not only slows down cognitive decline and lowers your risk of Alzheimer’s but also improves your mental and social health, so you’ll be more active and healthy. When you treat your hearing loss, you can better understand what people are saying, build stronger relationships, and enjoy the sounds around you. You’ll be able to do things that challenge your mind and improve the health of your brain.

We can help!

See us for a complete hearing evaluation to determine how treating your hearing loss can help you. We’ll check how bad your hearing loss is and help you figure out which sounds are complex for you to hear.

Hearing aids will not only help you keep your mind in good shape, but they will also give you more energy and make your mental health better. People who use hearing aids say they are happier, do more social things, do better at work, feel less depressed, and have a better quality of life.

Do the right thing for your health and lower your chance of getting Alzheimer’s by buying a good pair of hearing aids. We work with the best hearing aid makers in the world, so whether you want the most connected hearing aid or one that’s hard to see, we have a suitable device for your lifestyle and hearing needs.