Hearing Loss Linked to Risk of Dementia
People who lose their hearing are at an elevated risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, a new study shows.
In fact, researchers calculate that about one-third of dementia risk can be explained by hearing loss, even though the connection is rarely considered.
“A lot of people ignore hearing loss because it’s such a slow and insidious process as we age,” said Frank Lin, a researcher at the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Md.