It often starts quietly. A grandparent may miss parts of a conversation, ask for repeats, or seem withdrawn during dinner. The TV volume creeps higher. Maybe there’s a constant ringing in their ears they never mention. We chalk it up to “getting older,” and they do too—until the silences deepen and the isolation sets in.
But what if these early signs aren’t just nuisances? What if they’re warnings of something much bigger—an early neurological tipping point?
Emerging science reveals that untreated hearing loss and tinnitus aren’t just quality-of-life issues. They’re strongly linked to accelerated brain aging and a significantly increased risk of dementia. Yet year after year, seniors are left undiagnosed, untreated, and underserved—even though interventions like hearing aids and cognitive-behavioral therapy can slow or even reverse some of this decline.
This article unpacks the science, systemic failures, and the psychological blind spots that have allowed one of the most preventable contributors to cognitive decline to go largely ignored. For older adults, caregivers, and clinicians alike, it’s time to start listening—before it’s too late.
(Note: About Us, a reference bibliography, related books, videos and apps can be found at the end of this article.)
Article Highlights
- 1 in 3 adults over 65 experiences hearing loss; many also suffer from tinnitus, often without diagnosis or treatment.
- Tinnitus affects 10–25% of adults, and 90% of tinnitus sufferers also have measurable hearing loss.
- Hearing loss is not benign—it changes how the brain processes information, increasing cognitive load and mental fatigue.
- Tinnitus isn’t just a nuisance; it’s linked to disrupted sleep, impaired attention, and emotional distress.
- Functional MRI shows tinnitus activates memory and emotion centers in the brain, not just auditory pathways.
- Cognitive load theory explains how the brain diverts resources from memory and thinking to interpret unclear audio input.
- Social withdrawal and depression, often caused by untreated hearing issues, are well-established dementia risk factors.
- Brain scans reveal that auditory deprivation leads to shrinkage in the auditory cortex and connected memory regions.
- Hearing loss triples dementia risk; it’s now the #1 modifiable risk factor for dementia per The Lancet Commission.
- Despite these links, routine hearing screening is rare and tinnitus is frequently dismissed by clinicians.
- The U.S. spends billions chasing Alzheimer’s drugs, but very little on sensory health or hearing-related prevention.
- The ACHIEVE Study shows that addressing hearing loss early may slow cognitive decline in at-risk seniors.
- Hearing aids can reduce tinnitus distress by reintroducing ambient sound and supporting brain input balance.
- CBT, sound therapy, and auditory rehab are evidence-backed tools to help manage tinnitus and preserve cognitive function.
- Policy change is essential: Seniors need better insurance coverage, more frequent screenings, and serious investment in hearing health research.
The Quiet Decline We Tolerate
It starts subtly. Grandpa asks you to repeat yourself more often. He turns the TV up to what sounds like concert volume. He smiles and nods during group conversations—but you can tell he’s not catching every word. Family dinners become quieter, not because there’s less love, but because conversation becomes work.
We see this every day in aging parents, friends, and even ourselves. And we write it off as just part of growing older.
But here’s the problem: we’ve normalized something that isn’t benign. We’ve accepted hearing loss—especially gradual, high-frequency loss—as inevitable, cosmetic, and inconsequential. We treat it like gray hair or creaky knees. We downplay. We ignore.
Yet science tells a different story.
In the last decade, a growing body of research has drawn a direct and troubling connection between untreated hearing loss and accelerated cognitive decline. The data is no longer speculative: seniors with even mild hearing loss face a 30–40% higher risk of dementia. That risk jumps significantly with moderate and severe hearing loss. And tinnitus—chronic ringing in the ears—may further compound the burden by adding stress, sleep disruption, and attention fatigue.
Still, most older adults wait seven to ten years before seeking help. And by then, the damage may already be underway.
This isn’t about vanity or inconvenience. It’s about brain health, independence, and longevity.
We would never accept such a long delay in addressing vision loss, high blood pressure, or diabetes. So why do we let hearing loss slide—especially when it’s one of the most modifiable risk factors for dementia?
This article is a call to stop tolerating the quiet fade. To treat hearing not as a peripheral issue, but as a core part of cognitive health. Because when we lose our ability to hear, we start to lose connection—not just to others, but to our own minds.
The Overlooked Epidemic
We often discuss heart disease. We worry about cancer. We monitor cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure. However, when it comes to hearing, a slow-moving epidemic has been hiding in plain sight—one that affects millions and quietly erodes cognitive function, quality of life, and emotional well-being.
Prevalence
Hearing loss is incredibly common. Nearly 1 in 3 adults over 65 experiences some form of hearing loss. By age 75, that number jumps to nearly half. Tinnitus—often described as ringing, buzzing, or humming in the ears—affects 10–25% of adults, with a particularly strong overlap in those with hearing loss.
But despite the staggering numbers, it’s still underdiagnosed, undertreated, and deeply misunderstood.
Denial and Delay
Unlike a sudden illness, hearing loss and tinnitus develop gradually. It sneaks in. People adjust. They stop going to noisy restaurants. They talk less at family gatherings. They smile and nod when they don’t fully understand, hoping no one will notice. And most of the time, no one does.
Add to this the cultural baggage: hearing aids carry stigma. They’re associated with frailty. Many older adults—especially those still active and independent—avoid them because they “don’t want to feel old.” Others try them and give up, frustrated by discomfort, background noise, or sticker shock. Some models can cost $3,000 to $6,000 out-of-pocket, and Medicare doesn’t typically cover them, which illustrates the systemic failure that we will discuss next.
Systemic Failure
We don’t just have a personal resistance problem—we have a healthcare blind spot. Most seniors receive no routine hearing screening during annual physicals, even though hearing loss is as common—and as consequential—as other age-related conditions.
And tinnitus? It’s often dismissed as an annoyance, rather than a clinical issue. Yet we now know it has neurological significance. It can disrupt sleep, concentration, and mental health. It’s linked to anxiety, depression, and even structural brain changes in key areas responsible for attention and memory.
Too often, healthcare providers chalk hearing loss up to “normal aging.” But normal doesn’t mean harmless. That assumption—subtle but deeply embedded in our medical system—leads to delays in diagnosis, missed interventions, and a steady erosion of cognitive reserve that could have been mitigated.
We wouldn’t ignore vision loss. We wouldn’t dismiss shortness of breath. So why do we treat hearing—one of our most vital senses—as an afterthought?
How Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Impact the Brain
Hearing may seem like a localized function—ears taking in sound—but in truth, it’s a whole-brain process. When that process starts to break down, the consequences ripple far beyond communication.
Hearing Loss and Cognitive Decline
Hearing loss doesn’t just make conversations difficult—it quietly reshapes the way the brain allocates resources, interacts with others, and even affects the aging process. Hearing loss is not only a marker but a modifiable risk factor for accelerated brain aging and dementia, per studies like the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and the ACHIEVE trial.
A Brain Working Overtime
When hearing becomes impaired, the brain doesn’t just “miss” information—it has to work harder to decode incomplete or distorted input. This is the crux of cognitive load theory.
Imagine trying to understand a muffled conversation in a noisy restaurant. You concentrate so hard on interpreting the words that you forget what was said two sentences ago. For those with hearing loss, this is every day. The brain devotes extra energy to hearing, leaving less capacity for memory, problem-solving, and other cognitive functions.
Over time, this constant overload contributes to mental fatigue and cognitive decline.
Social Isolation: A Hidden Dementia Risk
Hearing loss also disrupts social connections—often in subtle ways at first. Seniors may withdraw from group events, stop attending religious services, or avoid phone calls out of frustration or embarrassment. This isolation isn’t just emotionally painful—it’s biologically harmful.
Research has shown that social isolation and depression are powerful, independent risk factors for dementia. Hearing loss is one of the most preventable contributors to both.
Use It or Lose It
Perhaps most concerning, neuroimaging studies show that untreated hearing loss leads to atrophy—a literal shrinking—of brain regions involved in sound processing, language comprehension, and memory formation.
The auditory cortex, which interprets sound, begins to weaken from disuse. But so do connected regions, like the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, both of which are vital for memory and executive function. This means hearing loss isn’t just a symptom of aging—it’s a driver of accelerated brain aging.
The Brain Ringing the Alarm
For many older adults, the problem isn’t just hearing loss—it’s the persistent, unrelenting sound that never seems to go away. Ringing. Buzzing. Humming. Clicking. Whistling.
This is tinnitus, and it’s far more than a nuisance. It may be the brain’s way of ringing the alarm bell—a neurological signal that something deeper is happening.
A Common Companion to Hearing Loss
Up to 90% of people with tinnitus also have hearing deficits. That’s no coincidence. Tinnitus isn’t caused by sound at all—it’s the brain reacting to a lack of it.
When the ears stop delivering normal auditory input (due to age, noise damage, or both), the brain attempts to compensate. It “fills in the silence” with self-generated noise. This is a form of neuroplasticity gone awry—a hyperactive brain trying to adapt to a loss of sensory data.
But this overcompensation doesn’t stay neatly confined to the ears.
A Widespread Cognitive and Emotional Burden
Modern imaging techniques, including functional MRI (fMRI), reveal that tinnitus activates areas far beyond the auditory cortex. It engages:
- The limbic system, which governs emotion and stress
- The default mode network, involved in introspection and memory
- And the prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate attention and decision-making
In other words, tinnitus hijacks brain real estate far beyond hearing. That may help explain why it’s strongly associated with:
- Poor sleep quality
- Cognitive fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Anxiety and depression
Even mild tinnitus, when persistent, can increase mental load, forcing the brain to work harder just to stay focused—especially in noisy or complex environments. Over time, this may erode cognitive resilience and accelerate decline in vulnerable individuals.
More Than a Symptom—A Signal
Tinnitus may not just be an irritating side effect. It could be an early marker of neurological stress—a red flag signaling deeper dysfunction in how the brain processes and regulates sensory information.
In seniors, this makes it especially important. It may predict who is at higher risk for cognitive impairment, emotional distress, or neurodegenerative conditions. Yet, too often, it’s dismissed as “just something you live with.”
It shouldn’t be.
Tinnitus is the brain talking. We just haven’t been listening.
The Dementia Connection
Few people realize the profound connection between hearing and brain health. However, the science is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
- Moderate hearing loss has been shown to triple the risk of developing dementia. Even mild loss doubles it. And yet, many older adults wait years—or never seek treatment at all.
- In its landmark 2020 report, the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care ranked hearing loss as the number one modifiable risk factor for dementia—surpassing smoking, obesity, and even hypertension.
This isn’t about rare cases or academic theory. It’s about something we see every day but often fail to connect: an older adult withdrawing from conversation, struggling to follow what’s being said, growing increasingly fatigued, frustrated, or forgetful. Too often, this cascade is chalked up to “normal aging,” when in fact, it’s an urgent call to action.
Where Tinnitus Fits In
Tinnitus adds another layer of complexity. While not as well-studied as hearing loss, its impact is significant—and often underestimated:
- Chronic tinnitus disrupts sleep, elevates stress hormones, and increases mental fatigue.
- It can worsen anxiety and depression, both of which are also risk factors for cognitive decline.
- The constant neural activation caused by tinnitus may contribute to overactivity in key brain regions, leading to long-term strain on attention and memory systems.
In short, hearing loss and tinnitus don’t just coexist with cognitive decline—they may be actively shaping its course.
Yet despite the mounting evidence, they remain underdiagnosed, undertreated, and too often ignored in routine senior care.
Denial, Delay, and the Cost of Inaction
The crisis around hearing loss and tinnitus isn’t just medical—it’s deeply psychological and institutional. While the science connecting auditory decline to cognitive deterioration becomes increasingly clear, our collective response remains astonishingly passive.
The Role of Denial
Many older adults resist acknowledging their hearing loss. There’s a cultural and emotional reluctance to confront anything that signals frailty or aging. Turning up the TV feels easier than admitting something might be wrong. Tinnitus, meanwhile, is often brushed off as a nuisance, something to “just live with.”
But this denial—understandable as it may be—is dangerous. Because while the mind adapts, the brain begins to change. Neurons atrophy. Cognitive load increases. Memory falters.
Clinicians Look the Other Way
The medical system mirrors this avoidance. Tinnitus is frequently dismissed as “benign,” despite its known impact on sleep, mood, and executive function. Hearing loss is under-tested, under-treated, and largely overlooked in annual wellness visits—especially in patients over 65, where it should be a priority.
This isn’t just a failure of individual practitioners—it’s a systemic blind spot.
A Misguided Investment Strategy
We’re spending billions chasing high-risk, high-cost Alzheimer’s drugs that may slow decline by weeks or months—while spending pennies on proven, scalable interventions like hearing screening, hearing aid access, and tinnitus research.
That’s not just inefficient. It’s negligent.
Imagine if we treated hearing loss and tinnitus with the same urgency we treat cholesterol or blood pressure. How many cases of dementia might we delay—or even prevent?
The cost of inaction is steep: cognitive decline, lost independence, institutionalization, and avoidable suffering. And it’s one that society—and families—are paying silently every day.
Reversing the Damage: Is It Possible?
For decades, the relationship between hearing loss and dementia was thought to be a one-way street: a slow decline with no U-turn. But that assumption is changing—thanks to new research suggesting that intervention, especially when timely, may not just halt the slide but help restore cognitive resilience.
The Promise of Early Action
The landmark ACHIEVE study, published in The Lancet in 2023, delivered a game-changing message: older adults at risk for cognitive decline who received hearing aids experienced a 48% slower rate of cognitive decline compared to those who did not.
That’s not a subtle benefit. It’s one of the most promising dementia-prevention strategies we have—more impactful than many pharmaceuticals currently on the market.
And it’s not the only study pointing in this direction. A growing body of evidence suggests that addressing hearing loss can enhance memory, executive function, mood, and even mobility. The earlier the intervention, the greater the potential benefit.
Hearing Aids and Tinnitus Relief
Modern hearing aids aren’t just for amplification—they’re becoming therapeutic tools.
- Restored ambient sound helps “retrain” the brain and may suppress phantom ringing in those with tinnitus.
- Sound therapy features now built into some devices generate tailored tones to mask or desensitize the brain to tinnitus.
- Directional microphones and noise filtering can improve clarity in noisy environments, reducing listening fatigue and cognitive load.
While they’re not a cure, hearing aids are proving to be a form of neuro-rehabilitation, helping to preserve brain networks that would otherwise begin to deteriorate.
The Limits of Late Intervention
There’s a caveat: timing matters.
Once significant atrophy has occurred in the auditory cortex and associated brain regions, full reversal becomes unlikely. This is why early detection and treatment are essential. Think of it not as “fixing” hearing loss—but as preserving the brain’s ability to process sound, language, and social cues before those capacities are lost.
Even in more advanced cases, however, intervention can still improve quality of life—enhancing communication, reducing isolation, and potentially slowing further decline.
Prevention and Remediation: What Can Be Done
Hearing loss and tinnitus are not inevitable, untreatable burdens of aging. They are modifiable risk factors—especially for cognitive decline. But addressing them requires a shift in how we screen, treat, and prioritize sensory health. Here’s what needs to change—at the personal, clinical, and policy levels.
Stop the Decline Before It Starts
- Regular Hearing and Tinnitus Screenings
- Hearing health should be as routine as blood pressure checks—starting well before retirement age. Yet many adults don’t get their hearing tested until significant damage is already done.
- Public Health Messaging That Connects the Dots
- We need a clear, urgent campaign:
- “Protect your hearing = protect your brain.”
- Just as people now understand the link between exercise and dementia prevention, they must be taught that the ears and brain are biologically entwined.
- Education on Risks
- Noise exposure from earbuds, concerts, or even certain occupations is cumulative and preventable.
- Add to that the underrecognized danger of ototoxic medications—common drugs like some antibiotics, chemotherapy agents, and even NSAIDs—that can damage hearing.
- Seniors and their caregivers deserve informed guidance, not surprise diagnoses.
- Awareness of Subtle Signs
- Hearing loss rarely begins with silence—it starts with straining to follow conversations, needing subtitles, or turning the volume just one notch higher. These are early warnings—not quirks of aging.
Tools That Work, If We Use Them
Hearing Aids
- These devices have come a long way, both technologically and legally.
- Thanks to recent FDA rules, over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are now more affordable and accessible.
- But stigma, inertia, and lack of awareness still keep many seniors from trying them.
- Hearing aids can:
- Improve comprehension and social confidence.
- Reduce the burden of tinnitus by amplifying real-world sound.
- Slow the cognitive decline linked to sensory deprivation.
Cochlear Implants
- For those with severe or profound hearing loss, cochlear implants can restore meaningful sound perception—even in later life. But they remain underutilized, in part due to limited awareness among older patients and clinicians.
Tinnitus Treatment
-
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Strong evidence supports its ability to reduce the emotional and cognitive toll of tinnitus—improving sleep, mood, and focus.
- Auditory Rehabilitation: Structured programs that combine listening practice, education, and counseling can help the brain adapt to both hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Sound Therapy and Mindfulness: Gentle, structured exposure to sound, paired with stress-reduction techniques, can help reduce the brain’s overreaction to tinnitus and promote neuroplasticity and resilience.
Systemic Change is Long Overdue
Medicare and Medicaid Reform
- Despite the clear links to dementia and quality of life, hearing care is still not fully covered by Medicare.
- Coverage for hearing aids, tinnitus therapy, and auditory rehabilitation must be expanded—not just for fairness, but for cost-saving prevention.
Primary Care Incentives
- We need screening for hearing loss and tinnitus to be built into routine care—especially in geriatrics.
- These conditions are often overlooked because providers fail to ask, and patients don’t volunteer their symptoms.
Research Investment
- Hearing loss and tinnitus are early indicators of cognitive vulnerability, yet remain grossly underfunded in dementia research.
- It’s time to treat auditory health not as peripheral, but as a central component of brain health and aging policy.
Listen Before It’s Too Late
Tinnitus and hearing loss are not just nuisances. They are early warning signs—neurological red flags waving long before a formal diagnosis of dementia or cognitive decline ever enters the room.
What begins as missed words at dinner, a TV volume creeping higher, or a subtle phantom ringing is not just “getting older.” It’s the brain, straining to adapt to sensory deprivation. It’s the beginning of disconnection—from sound, from people, from memory itself.
But this decline is not inevitable.
When we ignore hearing loss or dismiss tinnitus, we delay taking action until the damage is more difficult to reverse. We wait while the brain rewires in all the wrong ways. We miss an opportunity—not just to hear better, but to think more clearly, sleep more soundly, and stay more connected to life.
For older adults, early screening, access to hearing care, and serious attention to tinnitus can mean the difference between independence and isolation, resilience and regression.
This is not just about audiology. It’s about dignity. It’s about protecting the brain—not after it breaks down, but while it still has the power to adapt.
So let’s stop calling it “just aging.”
Let’s start calling it what it is: a treatable condition with life-altering consequences.
Listen—before it’s too late.
Disclaimer: As a Senior Health Advocacy Journalist, I strive to conduct thorough research and bring complex topics to the forefront of public awareness. However, I am not a licensed legal, medical, or financial professional. Therefore, it is important to seek advice from qualified professionals before making any significant decisions based on the information I provide.
Copyright: All text © 2025 James M. Sims and all images exclusive rights belong to James M. Sims and Midjourney unless otherwise noted.
References
Related Cielito Lindo Articles
(All authored by James M. Sims)
Sims, J. M. (n.d.). Improving healthcare to address the unique challenges of aging patients. Cielito Lindo Senior Living. https://cielitolindoseniorliving.com/improving-healthcare-to-address-the-unique-challenges-of-aging-patients/
Sims, J. M. (n.d.). Underserved: Addressing the unique healthcare needs of seniors. Cielito Lindo Senior Living. https://cielitolindoseniorliving.com/underserved-addressing-the-unique-healthcare-needs-of-seniors/
Sims, J. M. (n.d.). Ensuring quality care: The crucial role of self-advocacy in a flawed healthcare system. Cielito Lindo Senior Living. https://cielitolindoseniorliving.com/ensuring-quality-care-the-crucial-role-of-self-advocacy-in-a-flawed-healthcare-system/
Sims, J. M. (n.d.). Health care inequalities for our elderly. Cielito Lindo Senior Living. https://cielitolindoseniorliving.com/health-care-inequalities-for-our-elderly/
Sims, J. M. (n.d.). Integrating preventive care in the fight against chronic diseases. Cielito Lindo Senior Living. https://cielitolindoseniorliving.com/integrating-preventive-care-in-the-fight-against-chronic-diseases/
Articles and Guides
Harvard Health Publishing. (2022, March). Hearing loss and dementia. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/hearing-loss-and-dementia
National Institute on Aging. (2023, July 17). Hearing loss linked to risk of cognitive decline and dementia. https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/hearing-loss-linked-risk-cognitive-decline-and-dementia
NIHR Evidence. (2025, February 19). What impact does hearing loss have on dementia risk? https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/
Verywell Health. (2023). New research suggests hearing aids could delay dementia. https://www.verywellhealth.com/could-a-hearing-aid-delay-dementia-7090037
Sound Relief Hearing Center. (2024, September). Can hearing loss cause dementia? https://www.soundrelief.com/can-hearing-loss-cause-dementia/
Hope Hearing & Tinnitus Center. (2023, November 14). Treating your tinnitus & reducing your risk of dementia. https://excellenceinaudiology.org/2023/11/14/treating-your-tinnitus-reducing-your-risk-of-dementia/
Cochlear Center, Johns Hopkins University. (2024, December 9). ACHIEVE study results published, presented. https://jhucochlearcenter.org/center-news/achieve-study-results-published-presented
ACHIEVE Study. (2024). Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE): Cognitive outcomes of hearing intervention. https://www.achievestudy.org/
Excellence in Audiology. (n.d.). Treating your tinnitus & reducing your risk of dementia. https://excellenceinaudiology.org/
Websites
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Hearing loss in older adults. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/older-adults.html
World Health Organization. (2021). World report on hearing. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/world-report-on-hearing
Alzheimer’s Association. (2023). 10 ways to love your brain. https://www.alz.org/help-support/brain_health/10_ways_to_love_your_brain
Research Papers
Brewster, K. K. (2022). Considering hearing loss as a modifiable risk factor for dementia: Evidence and implications [Systematic review]. International Journal of General Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9647784/
Ford, A. H. (2018). Hearing loss and the risk of dementia in later life. Maturitas. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2018.06.003
Lin, F. R., Albert, M. S., Holtzman, D. M., Arnold, S. E., & Vemuri, P. (2023). Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss: The ACHIEVE randomized controlled trial. The Lancet, 402(10397), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01406-X
Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Sommerlad, A., Ames, D., Ballard, C., Banerjee, S., … & Mukadam, N. (2020). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. The Lancet, 396(10248), 413–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6
Reed, N. S., Lin, F. R., Deal, J. A., & Goman, A. M. (2024). Effect of hearing intervention on cognitive decline in older adults: Recruitment and baseline data of the ACHIEVE trial. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10865776/
Yu, R.-C., Proctor, D., Soni, J., Pikett, L., & Livingston, G. (2024). Adult‑onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review and meta‑analysis. Ageing Research Reviews, 90, 101719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.101719
Books
Committee on Accessible and Affordable Hearing Health Care for Adults. (2016). Hearing health care for adults: Priorities for improving access and affordability. National Academies Press. ISBN: 9780309400168. https://doi.org/10.17226/23446
Lin, F. R., & Ferrucci, L. (2019). Hearing loss and healthy aging: Bridging the gap between research and public health. Springer. ISBN: 9783030205097
Small, G. W., & Vorgan, G. (2011). The Alzheimer’s prevention program: Keep your brain healthy for the rest of your life. Workman Publishing. ISBN: 9780761172220
Additional Resources:
0:00 – Introduction to the link between hearing loss and dementia.
0:30 – Discussion on the importance of treating hearing loss.
1:00 – Overview of Dr. Frank Lynn’s study on hearing loss and dementia.
1:19 – Findings that hearing loss is independently associated with dementia.
2:03 – Statistics showing increased dementia risk with varying levels of hearing loss.
2:25 – The Lancet Commission’s findings on modifiable risk factors for dementia.
3:12 – Hearing loss identified as the highest modifiable risk factor for dementia.
3:39 – Evidence that even mild hearing loss increases cognitive decline risk.
4:10 – Emphasis on treating hearing loss to reduce dementia risk.
4:36 – Conclusion on the risks of untreated hearing loss.
0:05 – Introduction to the session on hearing loss and dementia.
0:39 – Overview of the relationship between hearing loss and dementia.
6:03 – Discussion on how hearing changes may relate to cognitive struggles.
9:30 – Presentation of brain scan findings showing damage in dementia patients.
10:50 – Graph illustrating the hearing difficulties in Alzheimer’s patients compared to those without dementia.
12:06 – Insights from a study on frontal temporal dementia and its impact on hearing.
16:30 – Explanation of the iceberg analogy for understanding Alzheimer’s disease progression.
19:10 – Emphasis on the importance of consulting professionals for hearing and cognitive concerns.
20:10 – Clarification that not all individuals with hearing loss will develop dementia.
22:24 – Call for better education and training regarding dementia and hearing conditions.
29:55 – Discussion on the need for adjusted tests in dementia care.
30:56 – Emphasis on the challenges in providing quality audiology services.
33:13 – Mention of research on auditory processing in Lewy Body dementia.
35:18 – Link between tinnitus and hearing loss, and its potential connection to dementia.
41:00 – Benefits of early hearing aid fitting for cognitive health.
42:37 – Importance of acclimatization to hearing aids for better outcomes.
49:00 – Exploration of brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease related to hearing.
54:05 – Excitement about new drug developments in dementia research.
55:09 – Longitudinal studies to predict dementia progression based on hearing tests.
59:44 – Encouragement to participate in dementia research for further insights.
Highlights:
0:00 – Introduction to the impact of untreated hearing loss on the brain.
1:30 – Research shows untreated hearing loss increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
1:44 – Mild hearing loss doubles dementia risk; moderate triples it; severe increases it fivefold.
2:08 – Hearing loss identified as a leading modifiable risk factor for dementia.
3:09 – Deprivation of sound leads to reorganization of brain areas.
3:35 – Treating hearing loss can improve cognitive performance and speech perception.
4:44 – Consistent use of hearing aids is crucial for maximizing benefits.
5:34 – Hearing loss linked to lower physical activity levels, impacting overall health.
6:14 – Treating hearing loss leads to significant improvements in communication and cognitive function.
6:27 – Encouragement to treat hearing loss for a better quality of life.
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