Hearing loss dramatically raises the risk of dementia, so why are so many people in midlife doing nothing to prevent it? A test is easy to arrange
- Even mild hearing loss doubles the risk of cognitive impairment, a study shows; yet most people aren’t aware they have a hearing problem until they take a test
- Two in five people over 50 have some hearing loss. This can be corrected with hearing aids, but only a fraction of those who could benefit from them have them
In a study that tracked 639 adults for more than a decade, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that even mild hearing loss doubled the risk of cognitive impairment.
Moderate loss tripled that risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.
Jiang Fan from the School of Public Health at China’s Shandong University took part in a significant study into the value of hearing aids in safeguarding cognition. She referred me to a 2020 report of the Lancet Commission.
Modifiable means there’s something we can do about it to help change an outcome, and Jiang says: “Hearing loss is a particularly promising target for dementia prevention due to the widespread availability of cost-effective interventions.”
