Mental health and strong cognitive functionality is vitally important to our well being, and never more so in 2020 with enforced lock down and since then, reduced social gatherings. Communicating with friends and family, by phone or technology like Zoom, has become more popular than ever.
Hearing aids help you stay connected to the most important people in your life. If you suffer from hearing loss, they are vitally important to help you fully interact in all types of social circumstances.
But hearing aids do much more than enrich your social life. They can have a profound impact on your brain by keeping you mentally sharp, lowering your risk of depression, and improving your well-being.
Furthermore, several studies have linked untreated hearing loss to an increased risk of developing dementia and reduced cognitive functioning. It can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.
Estimates and studies vary, but a rough rule of thumb is that only 20% of people that suffer from hearing loss have, or regularly use, hearing aids.
Previous Nantwich Heating Centre articles have covered topics such as smart/digital hearing aids and how small modern hearing aids are, but hearing aids also provide a number of clinically proven benefits for wearers including improved mental agility, decreased listening effort and improved cognitive function.
Simply put, they can help your brain function better, helping general mental alertness and reducing the risk of age-related cognitive decline.
Here are some factors, backed by medical studies, that you should find interesting:
- Wearing a hearing aid has a positive impact on your mental health
Studies have discovered that people who chose to wear hearing aids reported lower levels of depression and showed fewer outward signs of being depressed. They also found that people with hearing aids showed greater emotional stability and their families reported that they were less likely to become angry or frustrated. Overall, respondents who wore hearing aids felt that they had more control over their lives and a more positive outlook in general.
- Hearing aids reduces the risk of reduced cognitive functioning and developing dementia.
Studies have linked untreated hearing loss to an increased risk of developing dementia and reduced cognitive functioning. Research further supports that treating hearing loss with hearing aids may slow the cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
Hearing aids may lower your risk of age-related cognitive decline.
- Hearing aids can improve memory and mental agility
A recent study showed that hearing aids – by minimising hearing loss – can help you remember things better, focus better and perform things faster.
- Hearing aids users report lower levels of depression
The National Council on Aging study – using 4000 participants with hearing loss (both with and without hearing aids) – found that that people with hearing aids showed greater emotional stability and their families reported that they were less likely to become angry or frustrated.
Overall, respondents who wore hearing aids felt that they had more control over their lives and a more positive outlook in general.
So, if you suffer (or think you might be) from hearing loss, hearing aids can help with your day-to-day social interaction AND potentially reduce the risk of depression and cognitive slowdown.
Nantwich Hearing Centre are pleased to offer free and no obligation hearing tests, with further advice and expertise should you require it.
Please read our keeping you safe article if you’d like to know more about our new safety measures in the light of the Covid-19 outbreak.