Let’s be clear: Keeping your mind sharp and preventing cognitive conditions including dementia and Alzheimer’s can be accomplished in a number of ways. Social engagement and involvement in the workforce are among the most significant. No matter the method, though, treating hearing loss by using hearing aids makes these activities a great deal easier and contributes in its own way to battling cognitive issues.
Numerous studies show that the conditions listed above are all connected to neglected hearing loss. The following is a look at why hearing loss can cause serious problems with your mental health and how strategies like hearing aids can help you keep your brain functioning at a higher level for a longer period of time.
The Relationship 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 revealed the same story: people with hearing loss experienced dementia and cognitive decline in higher rates than those without. Actually, one study showed that people 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 the two conditions. The primary theories indicate that your brain has to work overtime when you can’t effectively process sounds. That means that tasks such as memory and cognition, which require more energy, can’t function at full capacity because your brain has to spend so much of that energy on more simple tasks.
Your mental health can also be significantly impacted by hearing loss. Studies have shown that hearing loss is connected to depression, social isolation, anxiety, and might even affect schizophrenia. Remaining socially active, as mentioned, is the best way to protect your mental health and preserve your cognitive ability. In many examples, hearing loss causes individuals to feel self-conscious around others, which means they’ll turn to seclusion instead. The lack of human interaction can lead to the other mental health issues mentioned above and eventually lead to cognitive impairments.
Keeping Your Mental Faculties Acute With Hearing Aids
One of the best resources we have to fight dementia and other cognition conditions such as Alzheimer’s is hearing aids. Unfortunately, the majority of people who require hearing aids don’t wear them. People may steer clear of 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.
When your hearing is damaged for an extended amount of time, the brain may forget how to recognize some everyday sounds and will need to relearn them. It’s essential to help your brain go back to processing more important tasks and hearing aids can do just that by preventing this issue in the first place and helping you relearn any sounds the brain has forgotten.
If you want to find out what options are available to help you begin hearing better give us a call.
