New Study Finds Hearing Aids May Counter Cognitive Decline

I Love Hearing's Audiologist Dr. Amy Sapodin: Study backs longstanding hypothesis

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A 2023 randomized trial known as ACHIEVE (Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders) published in the scientific journal The Lancet, confirms what audiologists have long suspected but never had proof for. The ACHIEVE study found that, among older adults who have hearing loss combined with a higher risk of dementia, those who used hearing aids over a three-year period experienced 48% less cognitive change.

"The ACHIEVE study is so significant and so huge in the treatment of hearing loss because, before this time, we just hypothesized that there was a relationship between treating hearing loss and cognitive decline," said Sapodin, an audiologist with the Long Island, N.Y.-based practice I Love Hearing. "Now, we know for certain that hearing aids can slow cognitive decline in people with hearing loss who are at high risk for dementia."

According to data released alongside the study, nearly two in every three Americans aged 70 years or older experience hearing loss. Additionally, by 2060, 62.4 million adults are predicted to experience hearing loss.

Sapodin said the ACHIEVE study verifies that preventing and treating hearing loss in this population also reduces the prevalence of dementia, leading to better quality of life across the board.

"When one has age-related hearing loss, the brain is constantly receiving a garbled signal, causing it to relocate central resources to deal with that auditory decoding at the expense of thinking and memory abilities," she said. "We see hearing loss preceding and affecting the brain's structural integrity. Hearing loss can also affect social engagement and hence affect one's participation in cognitively stimulating activities."

Sapodin added that comprehensive hearing care from a professional audiologist is the best way to prevent and counter hearing loss and, thereby, cognitive decline. Unlike buying a hearing device over the counter, audiologists can identify and address issues that interfere with proper hearing aid function. The result is better hearing care that influences much more than a patient's ability to hear music or conversations.

"Audiologists take a medical approach to treating hearing loss," Sapodin said. "We analyze how clear sounds are and how well the patient can separate speech from noise. We fit hearing aids to a patient's exact needs and adjust them based on in-depth, one-on-one conversations and diagnostic testing."

This medical approach encompasses a full review of a patient's lifestyle and risk factors beyond hearing, including their potential to develop dementia.

"Hearing loss treatment has long been the number-one modifiable lifestyle change you could make to possibly help reduce the risk of dementia," Sapodin said. "We pick an appropriate device and treatment plan that works for the patient, their lifestyle, and their hearing loss. We're problem solvers… when patients say something, we figure out what that really means so that we can take an appropriate response."

The dementia-hearing care connection is all the more reason people over 60 years old should prioritize hearing care, said Sapodin.

"One out of three individuals experience presbycusis — age-related hearing loss — by the age of 65," Sapodin said. "Hearing loss is slow in its progression, and because early intervention has a significant impact on outcome, hearing tests are recommended for all adults beginning at 60, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms."

ABOUT I LOVE HEARING

I Love Hearing is an evaluation and treatment center for hearing and tinnitus. With over 30 years of knowledge and expertise the audiologists at I Love Hearing perform complete audiologic evaluations, hearing aid fittings, tinnitus treatment, and provide hearing protection products, hearing aid classes and workshops. They have two locations on Long Island in Port Washington and East Meadow. For more information, visit: www.ILoveHearing.com.

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SOURCE I Love Hearing