• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Spanish
sb-logo-with-brain
  • Resources
    • Monthly eNewsletter
    • Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle
    • The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
    • How to evaluate brain training claims
    • Resources at a Glance
  • Brain Teasers
    • Top 25 Brain Teasers & Games for Teens and Adults
    • Brain Teasers for each Cognitive Ability
    • More Mind Teasers & Games for Adults of any Age
  • Virtual Summits
    • 2019 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • Speaker Roster
    • Brainnovations Pitch Contest
    • 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2015 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
  • Report: Pervasive Neurotechnology
  • Report: Digital Brain Health
  • About
    • Mission & Team
    • Endorsements
    • Public Speaking
    • In the News
    • Contact Us

Study: Hearing aids may help older adults delay dementia, depression, anxiety, and falls

November 20, 2019 by SharpBrains

___

Hear­ing Aids Linked to Low­er Risk of Demen­tia, Depres­sion and Falls, Study Finds (Michi­gan Health Lab):

“Old­er adults who get a hear­ing aid for a new­ly diag­nosed hear­ing loss have a low­er risk of being diag­nosed with demen­tia, depres­sion or anx­i­ety in the fol­low­ing three years, and a low­er risk of suf­fer­ing fall-relat­ed injuries, than those who leave their hear­ing loss uncor­rect­ed, a new study finds.

Elham Mah­mou­di, M.B.A, Ph.D., the U‑M Depart­ment of Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine health econ­o­mist who led the study, says it con­firms what oth­er research has shown among patients stud­ied at a sin­gle point in time – but the new find­ings show dif­fer­ences emerg­ing as time goes on … “Though hear­ing aids can’t be said to pre­vent these con­di­tions, a delay in the onset of demen­tia, depres­sion and anx­i­ety, and the risk of seri­ous falls, could be sig­nif­i­cant both for the patient and for the costs to the Medicare system” …

In all, the rel­a­tive risk of being diag­nosed with demen­tia, includ­ing Alzheimer’s dis­ease, with­in three years of a hear­ing loss diag­no­sis was 18% low­er for hear­ing aid users. The risk of being diag­nosed with depres­sion or anx­i­ety by the end of three years was 11% low­er for hear­ing aid users, and the risk of being treat­ed for fall-relat­ed injuries was 13% lower…

The study only includ­ed indi­vid­u­als who billed their insur­ance com­pa­ny for part of the cost of their hear­ing aid, Mah­mou­di notes. The com­ing of FDA-approved over-the-counter hear­ing aids in 2020 for peo­ple with mild to mod­er­ate hear­ing loss could make the devices much more acces­si­ble for many people.”

The Study:

Can Hear­ing Aids Delay Time to Diag­no­sis of Demen­tia, Depres­sion, or Falls in Old­er Adults? (Jour­nal of the Amer­i­can Geri­atrics Society)

  • OBJECTIVE: To exam­ine the asso­ci­a­tion between hear­ing aids (HAs) and time to diag­no­sis of Alzheimer dis­ease (AD) or demen­tia, anx­i­ety or depres­sion, and inju­ri­ous falls among adults, aged 66 years and old­er, with­in 3 years of hear­ing loss (HL) diagnosis.
  • PARTICIPANTS: The par­tic­i­pants includ­ed 114 862 adults, aged 66 years and old­er, diag­nosed with HL.
  • MEASUREMENT: Diag­no­sis of (1) AD or demen­tia; (2) depres­sion or anx­i­ety; and (3) inju­ri­ous falls.
  • INTERVENTION: Use of HAs.
  • CONCLUSIONS: Use of HAs is asso­ci­at­ed with delayed diag­no­sis of AD, demen­tia, depres­sion, anx­i­ety, and inju­ri­ous falls among old­er adults with HL. Although we have shown an asso­ci­a­tion between use of HAs and reduced risk of phys­i­cal and men­tal decline, ran­dom­ized tri­als are need­ed to deter­mine whether, and to what extent, the rela­tion­ship is causal.

The Study in Context:

  • Hear­ing aids, by reduc­ing cog­ni­tive load, can improve brain func­tion in per­sons with hear­ing loss
  • 46.7 mil­lion Amer­i­cans have Alzheimer’s Dis­ease brain pathol­o­gy today, so it’s urgent to pre­vent or at least delay pro­gres­sion to clin­i­cal disease
  • 35% of world­wide demen­tia cas­es could be pre­vent­ed by mod­i­fy­ing these 9 mod­i­fi­able risk factors

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: anxiety, dementia, depression, fall-related injuries, hearing aid, hearing loss, Medicare, older-adults

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mariette Bassano says

    December 1, 2019 at 9:31

    I tru­ly appre­ci­ate this arti­cle. Much thanks again. Much obliged.

Primary Sidebar

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

  1. Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
  2. How learning changes your brain
  3. To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
  4. Three ways to protect your mental health during –and after– COVID-19
  5. Why you turn down the radio when you're lost
  6. Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
  7. Ten neu­rotech­nolo­gies about to trans­form brain enhance­ment & health
  8. Five reasons the future of brain enhancement is digital, pervasive and (hopefully) bright
  9. What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity and Dance
  10. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
  11. Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress
  12. Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  13. What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
  14. Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
  15. Twenty Must-Know Facts to Harness Neuroplasticity and Improve Brain Health

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

  1. You think you know the colors? Try the Stroop Test
  2. Check out this brief attention experiment
  3. Test your stress level
  4. Guess: Are there more brain connections or leaves in the Amazon?
  5. Quick brain teasers to flex two key men­tal mus­cles
  6. Count the Fs in this sentence
  7. Can you iden­tify Apple’s logo?
  8. Ten classic optical illu­sions to trick your mind
  9. What do you see?
  10. Fun Mental Rotation challenge
  • Check our Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games and Illusions

Join 12,619 readers exploring, at no cost, the latest in neuroplasticity and brain health.

By subscribing you agree to receive our free, monthly eNewsletter. We don't rent or sell emails collected, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

IMPORTANT: Please check your inbox or spam folder in a couple minutes and confirm your subscription.

Get In Touch!

Contact Us

660 4th Street, Suite 205,
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA

About Us

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

© 2022 SharpBrains. All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy