There are currently 982,000 Britons with Alzheimer’s, a number that is projected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040. This figure is based on demographic shifts towards an ageing population, but the dementia epidemic need not be so bad if people take the right steps in earlier life to prevent mental decline.
Various factors can increase or decrease the risk of dementia, one of them being how people deal with declines in their hearing earlier in life. There has been extensive research from multiple sources to show that people who suffer from hearing loss are at greater risk of suffering dementia.
This point was reiterated in a social media post by TV doctor Amir Khan, who reminded people in middle age that tackling hearing loss is the “biggest modifiable risk factor for dementia”.
He added: “Research shows that people with untreated hearing loss are up to four or five times more likely to develop dementia.”
How Hearing Loss Harms The Brain
This is not some direct causal link that makes the brain deteriorate in line with the hearing mechanisms, but the knock-on effects of the strain it places on the brain when it is trying to deal with audio decline.
Dr Khan explained: “It’s not just about what you hear, it’s also about what your brain has to work harder to process.”
In effect, he explained, the energy the brain uses trying to decode what you are hearing (poorly) detracts from its capacity to deal with thinking and memory. “The brain is too busy trying to hear to remember”.
The implication of this is clear: If your hearing declines, the brain has to work harder to read and process the more limited information coming to it, causing an overload.
While this may be the bad news, there is good news too, because knowing that this is the case means there is a solution: If you think your hearing may be declining at all, getting a hearing test can establish if this is the case and should you need one, a hearing aid will ensure that you don’t end up putting extra burdens on your brain.
Of course, to do that means you need to be willing to deal with the fact that your hearing may be in decline, which, as a sign of ageing, is something many people feel a stigma about. But given what is at stake, it makes a great deal of sense to do this.
Summer Concert Risk For Your Ears
The truth is that hearing decline can start much sooner in life than you might expect. Among the reasons for this is that when you are younger, you may often be in environments where constant loud noise is a part of the environment in which you spend time.
Examples of this include when loud music is being played at concerts. Indeed, a couple of months ago, Stylist Magazine was among those to warn music fans attending major festivals and concerts about the risks to their hearing from loud music.
Whether you have been to Glastonbury, made it to an Oasis reunion concert, or have not been to any gigs at all, the fact is that there are many possible causes of hearing loss. But by getting tested and having a hearing aid fitted if required, you can do a lot to help ensure you remember all the gigs you have been to and so much else, even when you are old.