Here at Ear Care Specialists we are truly passionate about hearing and aural health. When it comes to hearing loss, there are simply too many individuals out there who are yet to try hearing aids, despite being clinically suitable. Factors influencing non-uptake include social stigma, cosmetic concerns, waiting times, hearing "not bad enough" and cost. Whilst these factors are important, this article aims to shine light on some newly emerging benefits of hearing aid adoption, which extend far beyond just the obvious expected improvements in hearing.   ​
For many years, research into the benefits of hearing aids has often focused exclusively on measuring how they improve hearing, be it; speech clarity and discrimination, listening in background noise, listening effort and localisation of sound. In more recent times, exciting new research avenues have begun to explore the links between hearing loss, cognitive health/decline and dementia.
Indeed, there is now a growing body of compelling evidence which strongly suggests that hearing loss is a marker of risk for cognitive decline and dementia (Davis et al. 2016, Dawes, 2019, Alattar et al. 2020, Lin et al. 2023). And crucially, hearing aid use may ameliorate cognitive decline (Dawes, 2019) and has been associated with delayed diagnosis of Alzheimers disease amongst older adults (Mahmoudi et al. 2019).
Here, I would point out that such links (hearing loss and cognitive health) are complex and don't occur in isolation. Nevertheless, the potential of these additional benefits of hearing aid use is very encouraging for hearing aid users and should be considered in the decision-making process.​
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