For many people, hearing loss seems like one of those inevitable annoyances that comes with getting older.

The television gets turned up a little louder. Conversations in crowded restaurants become harder to follow. Family members find themselves repeating things. Eventually, someone may suggest it is time to have their hearing checked. But researchers are finding that hearing loss may be about much more than missing part of a conversation.

A growing body of research has linked hearing loss with cognitive decline and dementia, raising an important question: Could protecting or improving hearing also help protect the brain? Scientists don’t yet have all the answers, and hearing loss certainly does not mean someone will develop dementia. But the connection has become strong enough that hearing is increasingly considered an important part of healthy aging.

The hearing-brain connection

Research has found that people with hearing loss have a greater risk of developing dementia than people with normal hearing.

A long-term Johns Hopkins study that followed 639 adults for nearly 12 years found the risk increased with the severity of hearing loss. Mild hearing loss was associated with twice the risk of dementia, moderate hearing loss with three times the risk and severe hearing loss with nearly five times the risk.

That doesn’t prove hearing loss directly causes dementia. Many factors affect a person’s dementia risk, including age, genetics and cardiovascular health. Researchers, however, have several theories about why hearing and brain health may be connected…..READ MORE…..