Hearing Loss and Alzheimer's - Symptoms - Alzheimer's

Dr. Frank Lin, MD, PhD and Doctors Metter, O'Brien, Resnick, Zonderman, and Ferrucci, at the Johns Hopkins University objective was to determine whether hearing loss is associated with the incident of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease# Over 600 adults aged 36 to 90 who had their hearing tested between 1990 and 1994. They followed them up to the end of May 2008 to see who developed dementia or Alzheimer's disease. They found that those with hearing loss were more likely to be diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's disease during the average 12 year follow-up. They also found that the more severe the hearing loss the more likely they were to have a diagnosis of dementia#

 

Compared with those who had normal hearing, those with mild hearing loss were 89% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia. Those with moderate hearing loss were three times more likely to receive this diagnosis, and those with severe hearing loss were nearly five times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia. It does remain unclear whether hearing loss is an early sign of the disease or a risk factor for it, so much more research is needed.

via www.healthcentral.com