Hearing loss contributing factor to dementia, hearing aids may reduce risk

[LadyStanley]

Hearing aids linked to lower instances of dementia in older adults, study finds

Older adults with severe hearing loss are more likely to have dementia, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, but instances of dementia were lower among study participants who used hearing aids.

news.yahoo.com

New study

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[tarheelhockey]

I suppose that makes intuitive sense. Per the article:

Hearing loss “can make the brain work harder,” straining to hear at the expense of memory systems; hearing loss may also cause the brain to “shrink more quickly.” Another possible reason is that hearing loss can cause people to become more socially isolated, which harms brain health.

“If you can't hear very well, you may not go out as much,” Lin said, “so the brain is less engaged and active.”

In my non-scientific opinion, it could be a lot simpler than that. We know that engaging the brain (e.g. doing puzzles or learning a language) helps keep the brain healthy and reduces dementia risk. Someone with severe hearing loss, and no hearing aids, is going through life without one of their major sources of engagement. Even just sitting around listening to birds chirp and planes going overhead, your brain is working through inputs and reconciling them with what you see and feel and smell. If that sense is no longer present, it's easy to believe that the brain could regress and lose some of its robustness.