Recent conversation among experts includes ways in which hearing aids can be helpful to dementia patients. Using hearing aids may assist dementia patients with increased memory, reduced anxiety, and increased social interaction.
Having a hearing loss, especially amongst adults who are accustomed to the ability to hear, makes one feel isolated, separated from social groups. Ronna Fisher, audiologist and founder and president of Hearing Health Center in Chicago states, “Whether you have dementia or not, you need to hear. It’s not normal not to hear. Hearing is what makes us happy in our relationships. If you can’t hear, you stop talking.”
Experts are not claiming that improved sensory perception has an effect on the progression of dementia. Aids will not slow or stop the development of Alzheimer’s disease; however, improving one’s ability to hear will help reduce a patient’s feelings of isolation and confusion.
Residents at Smith Village, a continuing-care retirement community in Chicago, were observed having increased social participation when their hearing problems were addressed. Diane Morgan, memory support coordinator at Smith Village said, “Getting hearing aids does help them. When their hearing is down, they experience paranoia or anxiety because they can’t hear what’s being said to them.”
Fisher first noticed hearing aids’ effect on those with dementia in 2008 when patients fitted with hearing aids socialized more and experienced an improvement in memory. These effects occurred especially with deep-insert hearing aids that remain in the ear for three months at a time.
A 2011 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging found that seniors who suffer from hearing loss were more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing. Could hearing loss bring about social isolation? This research indicates a possibility that those with hearing losses experience social separation, a risk factor for dementia.
Dr. Marsel Mesulam, director of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern’s medical school says this research should offer hope to doctors treating patients with dementia. “Doctors and health care providers treating elderly patients should not throw up their hands treating dementia,” Mesulam said. “They can look at other factors that are treatable, like hearing loss or vision.”
Dementia is a collective term used to describe the common symptoms of memory loss and waning cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Within the category of Dementia, Alzheimer’s is the most common form, accounting for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases. Other causes of dementia include brain injuries, infections and tumors, and vascular, Parkinson’s, and other diseases that influence neurological function.
