June  is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and the Better Hearing Institute (BHI), a not-for-profit organization, suggests this month is a good time to raise awareness about the link between hearing loss and dementia, and other issues related to cognitive function. Below is a list of various health concerns that illustrate how hearing loss is linked to a number of health issues–many of which involve brain function.

  1. Cognition: Studies from Brandeis University show that unaddressed hearing loss interferes with a person’s ability to accurately process and make sense of auditory information.
  2. Dementia: Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging have found that seniors with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia and related problems with memory.
  3. Brain shrinkage: Studies show that the brain becomes smaller with age—a phenomenon that is accelerated in older adults with hearing loss. Also, adults with hearing loss were found to have less gray matter in the area of the brain that supports speech comprehension —a structural change that may be due to reduced auditory stimulation to the brain.
  4. Risk of falling: According to recent studies, people aged 40-69 with even a mild hearing loss were nearly 3 times more likely to have a history of falling. Experts believe the listening effort demanded by untreated hearing loss hijacks cognitive resources necessary for maintaining normal balance and gait.
  5. Depression: Studies have found that older adults with hearing loss are 57% more likely to have stress, depression or bad moods than their peers with normal hearing. Further, working adults with untreated mild to moderate hearing loss are more prone to anxiety and depression.

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