Hearing Aids May Cut Risk of Cognitive Decline By Nearly Half (washingtonpost.com) 26
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Washington Post: A study published Monday in the Lancet found that the use of hearing aids can reduce the risk of cognitive decline by about half -- 48 percent -- for adults with more risk factors for dementia, such as elevated blood pressure, higher rates of diabetes, lower education and income, and those living alone. The study was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Amsterdam. [...] Over a three-year period, the randomized controlled trial studied nearly 1,000 older adults, ages 70 to 84, in four sites in the United States. The participants included older adults in an ongoing study of cardiovascular health -- Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) -- and others who were healthier than the ARIC adults; both groups were from the same communities at each site.
When the two groups were combined, use of hearing aids was shown to have no significant effect on slowing cognitive changes. When the group at higher risk of dementia, the ARIC group, was analyzed separately, however, researchers found that hearing intervention -- counseling with an audiologist and use of hearing aids -- had a significant impact on reducing cognitive decline. Those considered at high risk for dementia were older and had lower cognitive scores, among other factors. When the groups were combined, the slower rate of cognitive decline experienced by the healthier participants may have limited any effect of hearing aids, the researchers suggested. Whether hearing treatment reduces the risk of developing dementia in the long term is still unknown. "That's the next big question -- and something we can't answer yet," said Lin, who is also director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He said he and his colleagues are planning a long-term follow-up study to attempt to answer that question.
There have many studies over the past decade to try to determine why people with hearing loss tend to have worse cognition, said Justin S. Golub, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. One theory is that it requires a lot of effort for people with hearing loss to understand what others are saying -- and that necessary brainpower leaves fewer cognitive resources to process the meaning of what was heard, he said. Another theory relates to brain structure. Research has shown that the temporal lobe of people with hearing loss tends to shrink quicker because it is not receiving as much auditory input from the inner ear. The temporal lobe is connected to other parts of the brain, and "that could have cascading influences on brain structure and function," said Golub, who was not part of the Lancet study. A third theory is that people with hearing loss tend to be less social and, as a result, have less cognitive stimulation, he said.
When the two groups were combined, use of hearing aids was shown to have no significant effect on slowing cognitive changes. When the group at higher risk of dementia, the ARIC group, was analyzed separately, however, researchers found that hearing intervention -- counseling with an audiologist and use of hearing aids -- had a significant impact on reducing cognitive decline. Those considered at high risk for dementia were older and had lower cognitive scores, among other factors. When the groups were combined, the slower rate of cognitive decline experienced by the healthier participants may have limited any effect of hearing aids, the researchers suggested. Whether hearing treatment reduces the risk of developing dementia in the long term is still unknown. "That's the next big question -- and something we can't answer yet," said Lin, who is also director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He said he and his colleagues are planning a long-term follow-up study to attempt to answer that question.
There have many studies over the past decade to try to determine why people with hearing loss tend to have worse cognition, said Justin S. Golub, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. One theory is that it requires a lot of effort for people with hearing loss to understand what others are saying -- and that necessary brainpower leaves fewer cognitive resources to process the meaning of what was heard, he said. Another theory relates to brain structure. Research has shown that the temporal lobe of people with hearing loss tends to shrink quicker because it is not receiving as much auditory input from the inner ear. The temporal lobe is connected to other parts of the brain, and "that could have cascading influences on brain structure and function," said Golub, who was not part of the Lancet study. A third theory is that people with hearing loss tend to be less social and, as a result, have less cognitive stimulation, he said.
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Conversely ... (Score:5, Funny)
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Those are the ones that lack a "Bright" knob...so you can turn up the intelligence of the conversation.
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“Don't you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work.” - Gallagher
Seriously? (Score:2)
I thought the opposite must be true. Where are these guys living?
In who? (Score:2)
In the patient or the people constantly having to repeat themselves?
Well then (Score:2)
This sure makes the "don't give deaf people cochlear's, it doesn't let them access the deaf culture and is offensive" crowd look even worse.
Surgery could trigger alzheimers though (Score:4, Interesting)
The cochlear implant is a hearing aid that is one part surgical procedure since they have to put something that attaches to the hearing nerve, and a second external hearing aid that has a magnetic disc that gets stuck on the wearer's head just behind their ear. They're expensive, but they work, but look a little odd to people who have no idea what they are (since you think it's drilled into their head or going through skin or something; no, it is just a magnet!)
So anyway, for another person I know, they got an implant to help fight Alzheimers to some degree since if you can't hear half of what is around you, it accelerates the decline. However, the surgery and having to manage the implant device could also increase stress which could lead to accelerated effects of the condition.
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Generally sudden, great stresses of any kind (surgery, loss of a loved one, major legal issues you have to deal with, etc.) will generally shock the system which could trigger any number of illnesses - cancer being a prevalent one.
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No shade on your situation. I watch my grandmother descend into dementia... it's terrible, and dehumanizing. I don't wish it on my worst enemies.
I don't think you can draw a causal through-line in your story though.
because general anesthesia (Score:2)
See:
Lasting effects of general anesthetics on the brain in the young and elderly: “mixed picture” of neurotoxicity, neuroprotection and cognitive impairment [nih.gov]
from Conclusions (emphasis added):
The developing and aging brain may be vulnerable to anesthesia. An important mechanism for anesthesia-induced developmental neurotoxicity is widespread neuroapoptosis, whereby an early exposure to anesthesia causes long-lasting impairments in neuronal communication and faulty formation of neuronal circuitries. Exposure to anesthesia to the aged brain can be a risk of the long-lasting impairments of cognitive function.
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At least from a personal observation of mine, I've known of one person who quickly went down the Alzheimer's path due to increased stress (loss of her husband and thus having to deal with all the paperwork he used to handle), but another due to getting a cochlear implant [wikipedia.org].
The cochlear implant is a hearing aid that is one part surgical procedure since they have to put something that attaches to the hearing nerve, and a second external hearing aid that has a magnetic disc that gets stuck on the wearer's head just behind their ear. They're expensive, but they work, but look a little odd to people who have no idea what they are (since you think it's drilled into their head or going through skin or something; no, it is just a magnet!)
So anyway, for another person I know, they got an implant to help fight Alzheimers to some degree since if you can't hear half of what is around you, it accelerates the decline. However, the surgery and having to manage the implant device could also increase stress which could lead to accelerated effects of the condition.
Um, no, there is no casual link between cochlear implant surgery and dementia - at least, not in accelerating it!
Both commonly (though not, of course, always) involve older people though.
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Huh? (Score:2)
Ehh? (Score:2)
Ehh? What's that?
pass the ice cream, sonny!