Dementia is on the rise in the United States and accounts for more than 100,000 American deaths each year.
A new study shows a prominent link between hearing loss and dementia.
"There is such a coalition and relationship between dementia and hearing loss," said Karen Beyer, a hearing instrument specialist with The Hearing House in Wausau.
The Journal of the American Medical Association study found 32% of dementia is associated with hearing loss.
Beyer compares the loss of hearing to a broken arm.
"You break an arm, you wear a cast for a couple months. You take the cast off and your arm is a lot weaker than it used to be because you didn't use it for such a long time," said Beyer. "The same things happen with the brain. When you're not constantly stimulated with noises and sounds, it starts to weaken."
Not all hearing loss means dementia is developing.
Beyer says to pay extra attention to someone who's losing their hearing and how they react to it.
"There's more of a difference between the processing of information. They can still hear, but their brain isn't able to process what they're hearing," said Beyers. "It takes a lot for people who sometimes take longer to process things when they hear it, they stop and think, 'Okay. What did I just hear' and that's just something you want to help the brain hear and help it process."
Beyer adds that brains need that constant activity, and with an addition such as hearing aids, that helps keep the brain working and hopefully slow down the effects and progression of dementia.
"Hearing aids are not going to stop the progression of dementia, but hopefully it will slow it down," said Beyer. "If we can catch hearing loss early enough, that the ticket you have to catch it early enough, and then hopefully we'll be able to slow down or stop the progression, but we can't guarantee that hearing aids are going to stop the progression of dementia."
Beyer insists that for those around or over 55 years old and haven't got their hearing checked in some time, it's a good idea to go in and get an update as hearing loss may not be that noticeable.
