Listening is a skill that most of us take for granted. But research suggests that adults should pay attention to changes in their hearing ability. Because hearing problems may be linked to developing dementia in older age. A 2021 study of more than 80,000 adults over the age of 60 found that people who had trouble hearing speech in noisy environments had a higher risk of dementia. Which is a broad term for conditions characterized by memory loss and difficulty with language and other thinking skills. But there is a positive aspect to this also.
The study adds to the evidence that hearing problems may not only be a symptom of dementia, but may actually be a risk factor for dementia. Which can alert people, their families or doctors about the onset of any deterioration before it begins. In July 2021, study author Thomas Littlejohns, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said there has been particular interest in hearing loss and whether it may increase the risk of dementia. These results suggest that speech hearing loss in noise may be a promising target for the prevention of dementia.
There can be 9 main causes of dementia
In 2017, hearing loss was listed as one of the nine major, modifiable risk factors for dementia, along with smoking and physical inactivity. That historic report of The Lancet was soon updated in 2020. Three more risk factors were added, taking the total risk factors to 12. In 2024, the third update of the Lancet report added two more, taking the total risk factors to 14. These risk factors are elements of our lifestyle and general health. Those can be improved, and if done so, it can boost our overall health and reduce the likelihood of health conditions.
To investigate this, the University of Oxford researchers behind the study turned to the UK Biobank, a research database set up to explore the relationships between genetics, environmental factors and health outcomes across a large proportion of the UK population. Has been done. Dementia risk was analyzed for a group of more than 82,000 women and men aged 60 or older who were free of dementia and had their hearing assessed at the start of the study.
Memory loss increases 5 times in this condition
The Lancet reports that it is estimated that among the risk factors for dementia, the burden of hearing loss may be the greatest – such that people with hearing loss in middle age are five times more likely to develop dementia. The participants’ ability to hear speech-in-noise was tested. Which is the ability to recognize fragments of speech in a noisy environment – in this case, recognizing spoken digits against white background noise.
After about 11 years, 1,285 participants had developed dementia, based on health records. Participants who had poor hearing had almost twice the risk of developing dementia compared to those with good hearing. Interestingly, about half of the people in the study who had inadequate speech-in-noise hearing and about 42 percent of those who performed poorly on the test reported no hearing loss when asked to report it.
Also read: From excessive fatigue to weight loss, these are the five major symptoms of cancer.
The researchers also considered whether people’s hearing loss was actually linked to other factors known to influence the risk of dementia, such as social isolation and depression, both of which may When people have trouble hearing.
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