Older people’s memory and thinking skills dramatically improved.
Hearing aids and cataract surgery can slow dementia by 75 percent.
Being able to see and hear better helps preserve people’s memory and their thinking skills as they age.
Dr Piers Dawes, study co-author, said:
“These studies underline just how important it is to overcome the barriers which deny people from accessing hearing and visual aids.
It’s not really certain why hearing and visual problems have an impact on cognitive decline, but I’d guess that isolation, stigma and the resultant lack of physical activity that are linked to hearing and vision problems might have something to do with it.
And there are barriers to overcome: people might not want to wear hearing aids because of stigma attached to wearing them, or they feel the amplification is not good enough or they’re not comfortable.
Perhaps a way forward is adult screening to better identify hearing and vision problems and in the case of hearing loss, demedicalising the whole process so treatment is done outside the clinical setting.
That could reduce stigma.
Wearable hearing devices are coming on stream nowadays which might also be helpful.
They not only assist your hearing, but give you access to the internet and other services.”
The two studies assessed the thinking skills of thousands of people before and after they had cataract surgery and hearing aids.
Cataract surgery was linked to a 50% improvement in thinking skills, while hearing aids were linked to a 75% improvement.
Dr Asri Maharani, the first author of both studies, said:
“Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline.
We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting- though we can’t say yet that this is a causal relationship.”
Related
- 8 Everyday Eating Habits That Reduce Dementia Risk (P)
- 10 Science-Backed Ways To Slash Your Dementia Risk Today (P)
- 12 Brain-Boosting Strategies That Protect Against Mild Cognitive Impairment (P)
The studies were published in PLOS ONE and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Maharani et al., 2018; Maharani et al., 2018).
