Studies link hearing loss to a higher risk of loneliness and social isolation. This is not a huge surprise: Humans are social creatures, and when hearing, communicating, and interacting become more challenging due to hearing loss, it’s naturally easier to decline invitations, transact online, and just stay home.
The unfortunate reality of living a socially withdrawn life, however, is that it not only can impact your overall life happiness, but also increase your risk for dementia, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins.
The good news is that treating your hearing loss with hearing aids can help you stay connected and involved with the world around you. More specifically, better hearing can help you maintain a strong support network, life engagement, and an active social life—and the rewards that come with them.
Better hearing can have a ripple effect on your well-being.
A Strong Support Network
Hearing better makes it easier to maintain your relationships with friends, family, caregivers, and other important people in your life. In turn, you’re able to communicate your needs with them (and vice versa). As a result, you’ll have your “village”—the people who are there for you when you need them. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, such a support system can help reduce stress and physical health problems, plus improve your emotional well-being.
Life Engagement
Whether you take an art class, volunteer in your community, or simply spend more time with family and friends, better hearing helps make it easier to live an active lifestyle. Have conversations. Hear instructions. Enjoy the sounds of birds, children playing and laughing, and the other joys of life around you. Studies show that participating in life will help you feel happier and healthier. And by “healthier,” they also mean you may lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.
Socializing
When you can hear better, you are more likely to take part in conversations, make plans with others, go to restaurants or family events, and so on. And this is a good thing: Social isolation is linked to a 50 percent increased risk of dementia, cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But on the brighter side, numerous studies have shown that an active social life may help you live longer. (And have fun doing it, right?)
So, if you’ve been thinking about getting your hearing tested or treating the hearing loss you know you have, why wait?
Did you know…that hearing loss is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia?
The evidence linking hearing loss to an increased risk of developing dementia keeps piling up. One Johns Hopkins study found that people with severe hearing loss are five times more at risk for developing dementia than people without hearing loss. Another one found that untreated hearing loss can increase the risk of dementia by 50 percent.
So, why is hearing loss linked to dementia? Scientists blame several contributing factors:
• Hearing loss shifts the cognitive load of the brain — The brain spends too much energy trying to process what it’s hearing, giving it less time to spend on thinking and memory.
• Hearing loss accelerates brain atrophy — While all brains shrink as we age, in studies, people with impaired hearing had “accelerated rates of brain atrophy.”
• Hearing loss leads to social isolation and loneliness — Social isolation has been associated with a 50 percent increased risk of dementia.
More recently, researchers have been looking into whether treating hearing loss with hearing aids can prevent cognitive decline.
One 2022 analysis of studies and trials found that “compared to people who didn’t use [hearing aids], people who did had a 19 percent lower risk of cognitive decline.”
And a study published in the Lancet concluded that treating hearing loss was the number one risk factor people could modify to “reduce the incidence of dementia or substantially delay its onset.”
So, read (or not hear) the signs and have your hearing tested.
