Dementia Is Linked To Not Hearing People While In Noisy Environments
By Science Alert
Hearing is a skill most of us take for granted. But a study from last year suggested that adults should listen out for changes in their hearing, as hearing difficulties might be linked to developing dementia at an older age.
In a study of over 80,000 adults over the age of 60, those who had trouble hearing speech in noisy environments had a greater risk of dementia, which is an umbrella term for conditions characterized by memory loss and difficulty with language and other thinking skills.
But there’s an upside, too: The study added to evidence suggesting hearing problems may not just be a symptom of dementia but actually a risk factor of dementia that could possibly alert people, their families, or doctors to its onset before any deterioration begins.
“There has been a particular interest in hearing impairment and whether that can increase the risk of dementia,” said epidemiologist and study author Thomas Littlejohns of the University of Oxford last year.
“Whilst preliminary, these results suggest speech-in-noise hearing impairment could represent a promising target for dementia prevention.”
In 2017, hearing loss was listed along with smoking and physical inactivity as one of nine major, modifiable risk factors of dementia. That landmark Lancet report was soon updated in 2020 to include three more risk factors, taking the total to 12.
The keyword there is modifiable: These risk factors are elements of our lifestyle and general health that can be improved, and if so, may boost our overall health and reduce the odds of health conditions.
It has been estimated, in those Lancet reports, that of the 12 dementia risk factors, hearing loss might have the highest burden of all – such that people with unaddressed hearing loss in midlife are up to five times more likely to develop dementia.
To investigate further, the University of Oxford researchers behind this study tapped into the UK Biobank, a research database set up to tease out the links between genetics, environmental factors, and health outcomes across a large chunk of the UK population.
