Hearing Health & Dementia Prevention

Protect Your Cognitive Health with Regular Hearing Assessments at Professional Hearing Services

Hearing loss impacts more than just your ability to communicate — it can also affect your brain’s health, putting you at greater risk for cognitive decline and dementia. At Professional Hearing Services, we believe routine hearing evaluations are as important as regular eye and dental checkups, playing a vital role in your overall wellness.

Did you know?

Hearing loss has been identified as the number one modifiable risk factor for dementia — meaning it’s one of the few risk factors you can actively address to help protect your cognitive health.

The landmark ACHIEVE Study confirmed what earlier research had long suggested:
Older adults at higher risk for cognitive decline who received professional audiologic care and properly fitted hearing aids experienced nearly 50% slower loss of thinking and memory abilities compared to those who did not receive treatment.

This study was the first large-scale randomized trial to demonstrate that treating hearing loss can slow cognitive decline, reinforcing the importance of early detection and intervention.

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Hearing Loss & Dementia

Does hearing loss increase the risk of dementia?

Yes. Extensive research has established that untreated hearing loss is strongly linked to an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Large, long-term studies show that people with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop problems with thinking and memory — especially when hearing loss goes untreated over time.

What researchers continue to investigate is how hearing loss affects the brain — not whether it does.

How hearing loss affects brain health

Multiple biological and behavioral mechanisms are believed to contribute to the connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline, including:

Increased cognitive load: When sound signals are distorted or incomplete, the brain must work harder just to understand speech, leaving fewer resources available for memory, reasoning, and other higher-level cognitive functions
Structural brain changes: Reduced auditory stimulation may contribute to accelerated brain atrophy over time
Social isolation: Difficulty hearing often leads to withdrawal from conversations and activities that help keep the brain engaged and resilient

What the research shows

Accelerated brain atrophy in individuals with hearing loss
Faster rate of cognitive decline among older adults with untreated hearing loss
35% higher dementia risk in people with hearing loss, with dementia risk increasing by approximately 16% for every 10-decibel worsening of hearing

Importantly, research also shows that treating hearing loss can help reduce this risk.

A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led study found that among older adults with moderate to severe hearing loss:

Dementia prevalence was higher compared to those with normal hearing
Hearing aid use was associated with a 32% lower prevalence of dementia

More recently, the landmark ACHIEVE Study confirmed that properly fitted hearing aids and professional audiologic care can significantly slow the loss of thinking and memory abilities in older adults at higher risk for cognitive decline.

Causes of Dementia

Nerve cells or neurons, critical to movement, thinking, sensations, emotions, and other functions, send and receive messages between the body and the brain. Injury or destruction of these cells can impair that critical communication, triggering cognitive problems. Much like cutting the wires in a complex mobile device, damaging the neurons disrupts operation of the brain’s network.

How the nerve cells become damaged or destroyed can vary. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which typically develops in the late-middle or older stages in life. However, dementia isn’t a foregone conclusion with aging. Younger people can also develop the condition.

Some dementia risk factors apart from aging include:

Family history
Physical inactivity
Excessive alcohol use
Air pollution
Down syndrome
Smoking
Social isolation
Hearing loss

Signs of Cognitive Decline

One of the earliest signs of cognitive decline is disruptive memory loss. Everyone forgets things now and then. Frequent trouble recalling more recent information — the place you left your keys, plans to pick up friends at the airport — could mean something more serious. If you have concerns about cognitive issues for yourself or a loved one, talk to a primary care provider for further screening.

Consider this:

As a leading potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia, hearing loss may be an early indicator
Hearing loss can sneak up on you, but routine hearing evaluations can aid in prompt identification and treatment
We recommend annual hearing assessments to aid in early detection of hearing loss — especially for older adults or those with other risk factors such as noise exposure, ototoxic medications, or history of excess earwax buildup

Impact of Dementia

Dementia is a progressive neurological disorder typically leading to reduced cognitive functioning, such as the capacity to:

Reason
Recall information
Communicate

The condition, which affects over 55 million people on a global scale and sees close to 10 million incidences annually, is often connected to aging but isn’t necessarily an inevitable part of growing older. Universally the disorder can take a heavy cognitive, physical, mental, and economic toll.

Like dementia, hearing loss is serious. It’s a medical condition that needs a medical approach to care. If it’s been a while since your last checkup or you have signs of hearing difficulty, don’t wait. Contact our knowledgeable team to book your personalized appointment today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ears receive sound, sending it to the brain as electrical signals for processing. In addition to interpreting the sounds, the brain helps orient the listener to them and works to separate relevant information from competing noise.

Dementia is a subset of cognitive decline — diagnosed when difficulty with functions such as thinking, learning, remembering, making decisions, understanding, or exercising judgment reaches a certain level of dysfunction.

“Dementia” is an umbrella term for severe cognitive decline. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia, characterized by progressive brain changes leading to memory loss, cognitive decline, and shifts in behavior.

Straining to hear can tax the brain, which must work harder to process sound. That may reduce its capacity for other crucial functions, such as thinking and remembering. Deprivation of sound also can reduce the brain’s ability to process sound signals, potentially leading to brain atrophy.

No single prevention route exists yet, but staying active, eating healthfully, effectively managing chronic conditions like hearing loss, maintaining meaningful relationships, and avoiding smoking and excess alcohol can help curb risk. Taking action includes scheduling a hearing test today.

Ready to start your journey to better hearing?

Contact our team of dedicated audiologists today and take the first step toward personalized, concierge-level care tailored to your lifestyle. Request your appointment with Professional Hearing Services.

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