Summary
Hearing loss is thought to be a contributing factor to dementia. Hearing loss has some symptoms in common with dementia and can be misdiagnosed. The following resource from the United States presents a simplified (“infographic”) examination of the possible links and similarities between these conditions.
“A recent longitudinal study at Johns Hopkins suggests that for those over 60 over one-third of the risk of developing dementia including Alzheimer’s could be attributable to hearing loss”.
Read more: The Link Between Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease. MDHearingAid.
Some related articles, available freely:
Lin, FR. (2012) Hearing loss in older adults: who’s listening? JAMA. March 21st 2012; 307(11): 1147-8. Full Text Link.
Lin, FR. Ferrucci, L. [and] Metter, EJ. [et al] (2011). Hearing loss and cognition in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Neuropsychology. November 2011; 25(6): 763-70. Full Text Link.
Lin, FR. Metter, EJ. [and] O’Brien, RJ. [et al] (2011). Hearing loss and incident dementia. Archives of Neurology. February 2011; 68(2): 214-20. Full Text Link.
