Relationship between Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease
Many elderly have accepted hearing loss as a part of growing older and something that must be dealt with. However, the consequences of hearing loss are much more severe than simply “not hearing”. Studies have found evidence that the loss of the ability to hear can affect one’s memory and cognitive functioning.
The symptoms of hearing loss are very similar to those of Alzheimer’s Disease. These include social isolation and even depression, leading to a feeling of confusing and disorientation. Hearing and memory are also related in other areas such as the processing abilities in the brain which allows people to understand information. This is crucial in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
Recent studies show that dementia patients with mild hearing loss receiving help from hearing devices show improvements in terms of cognitive functioning, increasing the chances of them processing verbal information. Studies also show that hearing devices have improved results of memory related tests for people not suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.
Patients with the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease have shown improvement in their overall daily cognitive abilities with the aid of hearing devices.
