- Hi guys, Cliff Olson doctor of audiology
and the founder of Applied Hearing Solutions
in Phoenix, Arizona.
And in this video,
I'm talking about the surprising link
between hearing loss and memory
and why it may be the real reason
that you struggle to hear in background noise, coming up.
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Hearing loss is often called the silent epidemic.
According to the World Health Organization,
over 5% of the entire world's population has hearing loss.
And this number is expected to rise to 25%
of the world's population by 2050,
which is less than 30 years from now.
This of course is incredibly bad news
not just because hearing loss negatively impacts
your ability to communicate with others,
but because hearing loss is actually a leading risk factor
for other health conditions
that can impact your overall wellbeing.
Perhaps most worrisome
is the fact that hearing loss is the leading
potentially modifiable risk factor
for cognitive decline and dementia later in life.
And this link between hearing loss
and cognitive decline and dementia
continues to pop up in peer-reviewed research.
According to a study by Dr. Frank Lin
who is a professor of otolaryngology
from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
the risk of dementia increases
with an increase in the severity
of an untreated hearing loss,
resulting in up to a five times increased risk of dementia
if the untreated hearing loss is at a severe level.
In a more recent article published by the Lancet Commission
on dementia prevention, intervention and care
that I will also link in the description of this video,
researchers identified that hearing loss in mid-life
was the leading potentially modifiable risk factor
for dementia later in life at 8%,
which is significantly higher
than all the other modifiable risk factors
identified by the commission.
These are just a few of the studies
that have made the link between hearing loss and dementia
over the course of the past decade,
and I expect to see a lot more of these research articles
come out over the next several years.
The main reason why this has the attention
of individuals with hearing loss
is that the loss of mental faculties as someone gets older
is one of the biggest concerns for individuals
over the age of 65.
According to the Alzheimer's Association,
memory loss is one of the earliest
identifiable symptoms of dementia.
And if any form of memory loss is identified,
then you should be contacting your primary care doctor
as soon as possible.
If memory loss is not readily apparent to yourself,
family members or friends
and you happen to have a hearing loss,
then having a cognitive screening
that includes a memory screening
should be high in your to-do list.
That's why Cognivue, today's video sponsor
developed the Cognivue Thrive system
to make it convenient for your audiologist
to measure if there are any signs of memory loss
before a mild cognitive impairment sets in.
Cognivue Thrive is an FDA-cleared
self-administered computerized cognitive screening tool
that puts you through a variety of different tests,
so your hearing care professional can objectively evaluate
if your hearing loss is potentially impacting
your cognitive performance and your memory.
Cognivue Thrive measures five different
key performance areas including reaction time,
processing speed, executive function, visuospatial ability,
and you guessed it, memory.
After completing your screening,
your audiologists will be able to identify
if there are any possible concerns
regarding your overall cognitive performance
that might warrant a referral
to another medical professional.
Of course, if you are fortunate enough
to have your Cognivue Thrive scores
come back indicating good performance
in all of the different measurable areas,
and you do have an untreated hearing loss,
you should strongly consider
getting your hearing loss treated to keep those scores high.
In another linked study
from the Journal of American Geriatric Society,
researchers identified that hearing aid use
was positively associated with episodic memory scores
and that the decline in episodic memory scores
was slower after treatment with hearing aids
than before for using hearing aids.
The reduction in the rate of decline of these memory scores
is not really that surprising,
considering all that we know about untreated hearing loss
and cognitive decline.
However, what might surprise you
is that your ability to hear is negatively impacted
if you happen to have memory loss.
Numerous research studies
have indicated that a reduction in working memory
negatively impacts speech intelligibility
when you're in a complex listening situation.
This is also not surprising
considering that hearing requires a lot more
than just getting sound from your ears up to your brain.
Your brain has to be able
to cognitively process that information
which requires memory.
And if you do not have the cognitive abilities
to be able to do this,
then it is going to be much more difficult for you
to understand what you're hearing
particularly in complex listening situations.
A measured reduction in memory scores,
as well as other performance areas
identified by the Cognivue Thrive system
can go a long way in explaining
why someone might have extra difficulty
in a background noise situation
that their audiogram might not otherwise suggest.
These Cognivue Thrive scores
can also lead to additional diagnostic testing
by your audiologist and perhaps even a recommendation
for an assistive listening device
to make your hearing aids work even better
in a background noise situation like a family gathering
or in a restaurant.
When you consider all of the evidence,
it is readily apparent that hearing and memory
are very closely linked and a decline in one of them
can negatively impact the other.
So if you think that you might have hearing loss
or you have any concerns about your memory whatsoever,
then I highly recommend that you reach out
to a Cognivue Thrive provider
to get your hearing tested
and to get your cognition screened.
To find a Cognivue Thrive provider,
just go to EarBrain.com and search your local area
to see a list of all the providers near you.
At the end of day,
we have only just begun our fight
with hearing loss and dementia
and the decisions you make right now
regarding your hearing health and your cognitive health
will have a direct impact on your wellbeing
in the not so distant future.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the comment section below.
If you liked the video, please share it
and if wanna see other videos just like this one,
go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
Also feel free to check out my website drcliffaud.com
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