Be sceptical about link between hearing loss and dementia: Emily Woodmansey

But exactly what does this mean? How can wearing a hearing aid prevent someone getting an unrelated illness? It is worrying people reading these articles and also causing a lot of misinformation and uncertainty for people in society. Whilst they make great clickbait headlines, the articles rarely look at what the underlying reasons are or explain the link between the two.

Scaremongering statements like ‘People with hearing loss who are not using a hearing aid may have a higher risk of dementia than people without hearing loss’.

Wearing a hearing aid does not stop an individual who is going to develop dementia getting it. There is no proof that this is the case – what it does do is change that individual’s ability to socialise and interact with people.

Our biggest finding is that people coming to us for problems with hearing loss are being pushed to get their hearing checked by someone in their family. There is still a stigma about wearing hearing aids, and also an acceptance that by having to wear them they are acknowledging getting old, which none of us want to do.

However, technology has changed so much, and the number of options for hearing aids are now vast. Gone are the days of the chunky accessories most elderly people dread and then wouldn’t wear. A lot of our clients come to us because they have reached a point whereby they have been in a situation where they felt foolish, because they didn’t hear something properly and it resulted in an embarrassing situation. The fact that many are now linking this with concerns about hearing being linked to dementia is very worrying.

People’s ability to socialise and interact is linked to their hearing. If someone has been uncomfortable when they are out and about, if their hearing isn’t improved, they tend to start avoiding going out and stop seeing people to prevent comments about hearing problems.

This leads to introverted behaviour and less stimulation in their lives. We are all the same, if you’re someone who regularly did Sudoko and haven’t done it for a while, it takes time to get your brain back in tune with doing it again. Socialising is the same, and by keeping active and out and about you keep your brain stimulated.

For anyone who was going to develop dementia anyway, it works the same way. The less social interaction they have, the less they use their brain and become less active. The benefits of hearing aids are purely to keep that social interaction going, ensuring people don’t stop doing activities they enjoy, and remain mobile longer.

Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at University College London Robert Howard said of the research: “This is a large and well-conducted study, but we should always remember that association is not the same as causation.”

Whilst hearing aids improve someone’s quality of life, there is no direct link to preventing them ever getting dementia.

Emily Woodmansey is MD at The Hearing Suite in Harrogate.