People with hearing loss are more likely to suffer from dementia

A US based research has found that people who are hard of hearing have increased odds of developing dementia as they age. The research suggests that being hard of hearing can increase the speed at which thinking and memory deteriorates with age.

The study was conducted over a period of six years by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University and followed 1,984 people in their 70s - all had hearing and mental ability tests at the beginning of the study. There were then follow-up brain tests over the next six years. All were given hearing tests which involved listening to a range of soft and loud sounds in a soundproof room.

 

Over a period of six years, volunteers with hearing loss were found to have a rate of mental decline up to 40 per cent faster than those who could hear normally.

Levels of declining brain function were directly related to the amount of hearing loss, said the researchers.

On average, older adults with hearing loss developed significant mental impairment 3.2 years sooner than individuals whose hearing was sound.

The researchers hope that treating hearing loss can slow the onset of cognitive decline and dementia.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

 

Read full articles by Anna Hodgekiss of Mail Online  and James Gallagher of 

BBC health news