The Impact of Hearing Aids on Cognitive Health

Hearing loss can have a real impact on your life. You can notice changes with your understanding, your speech and even the arrangements that you make when it comes to social interactions and environments. However, seeking help and advice from an audiologist can help you to improve the quality of life you have when it comes to hearing.

In recent years, there has been considerable examination into the connection between hearing and cognitive health. Dementia, which affects a vast number of individuals – over 55 million globally – is a concern. The decline in cognitive health may be influenced by an individual’s hearing; a decline in hearing abilities could potentially accelerate the cognitive decline process.

However, one of the most common methods to improve hearing loss is using hearing aids. They can be extremely helpful to improve the sound and noise you hear and enable the brain to correlate what it is you are hearing. This can help stabilize cognitive health in some way, as the understanding and communication is still there. However, it is all well and good knowing that hearing aids could help you, but what is the impact of hearing aids on cognitive health? Let’s explore that in more detail.

How Do Hearing Aids Work?

A hearing aid is a device that has been created to help improve hearing loss. They are small enough to be fitted behind or inside the ear, and they can amplify the sound that you are hearing. They are discreet and can be very comfortable to wear. In some cases, once you get used to them you will likely not notice that you are wearing them. Apart from the improved hearing and sound quality. Whether it is quiet or noisy, hearing aids should help you to hear clearer and because of that, they can improve the quality of life that you have.

So how do they work? A hearing aid has three main elements that work together to help you to hear better. These include:

• A microphone which picks up the sound around you.
• An amplifier which makes the sound louder.
• A receiver that sends the amplified sounds into your ear.

It is worth noting everyone can benefit from wearing hearing aids. If you have experienced damage to their inner ear or the nerve that links the ear to the brain, talk with your audiologist about getting a hearing aid. There are many causes of hearing loss that could’ve damaged your hair cells. These include:

• Aging
• Your work environment
• Loud noises
• Medications

The Impact of Hearing Aids on Cognitive Health

Understanding the functionality of hearing aids holds importance, particularly when addressing cognitive health decline. A crucial question arises: can hearing aids serve as a beneficial tool in addressing cognitive health? Numerous studies have examined the relationship between hearing aids, hearing loss and their impact on individuals at risk of or in the early stages of dementia.

Dementia encompasses a range of cognitive abilities hindering memory, reasoning and decision-making, disrupting daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease stands as the most prevalent type of dementia. Despite its association with older adults, dementia isn’t a normal aspect of aging. Given its direct link to communication, hearing plays a pivotal role; hence, hearing loss may impede effective communication. If hearing impairment surfaces, communication abilities can be significantly affected.

Studies have taken place as more focus is placed on this area and there have been some incredible results. When the analysis focused on people who had a higher risk of dementia, the benefit of the hearing aids was substantial. Those who received hearing aids had an almost 50% reduction in the rate of cognitive decline compared with individual in the group who didn’t wear hearing aids.

How Wearing Hearing Aids Can Increase Cognitive Health

Wearing hearing aids has been linked to potential improvements in cognitive health. By increasing aural input and clarity of sound, hearing aids enable an enriched cognitive experience, stimulating the brain. Improved hearing can prevent the social isolation often associated with untreated hearing loss, encouraging individuals to engage in conversations. Studies suggest that addressing hearing loss through hearing aids may contribute to maintaining better cognitive abilities as individuals age. It seems that while there is a link between the impact of hearing aids on cognitive health, if you are experiencing any symptoms of hearing loss, contact your audiologist.

Schedule an appointment with your audiologist regularly to stay on top of your hearing health. If you would like more information hearing aids or cognitive health get in touch with The Hearing Clinic at Woodlake. Call us today at (612) 246-4868.