A new study, presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease which took place in Amsterdam, indicates that using a hearing aid could reduce the risk of cognitive decline by 48% in older people who have several risk factors for disease.
“It was a nice surprise to see that the auditory intervention had such a large effect on reducing cognitive decline,” said Prof Frank Lin, of Johns Hopkins University, lead author of the study, who just came from be published in The Lancet.
Hearing aids impact brain function
For this study, researchers followed nearly 1,000 adults between the ages of 70 and 84, from four different cities in the United States. Half of them were considered “at risk” of cognitive decline because they suffered from atherosclerosis, a disease linked to a deficit of cognition.
When this group was studied, researchers found that hearing intervention — counseling with an audiologist and use of hearing aids — had a significant impact on reducing cognitive decline. However, researchers still don’t know if wearing a hearing aid reduces the risk of developing dementia over the long term. “It’s still too early to tell. But we are planning a long-term follow-up study to answer this question,” they explained.
“It really draws attention to the fact that hearing is really important in maintaining cognitive functions,” insists Professor Lin. “However, most of the time, patients are unaware that they are suffering from hearing loss. It is therefore clear that a first step, in terms of preventing cognitive decline, is to have your hearing checked by an ENT specialist. “.
Source : Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE): a multicentre, randomized controlled trialThe Lancet, July 2023
