TYPES OF HEARING LOSS

Age-related hearing loss is common among older people. It can start gradually and be difficult to notice. There are two types of hearing loss, the Alzheimer’ s Society says, peripheral hearing loss and central hearing loss. Peripheral hearing loss is the reduced abilities of the ears to detect sounds and increases the person’ s risk of developing dementia. Central hearing loss, the other type, involves problems with processing sounds in the brain and is not able to be corrected with hearing aids. It may be a very early symptom of Alzheimer’ s disease, the society says, as sound

processing parts of the brain are affected by the disease.

RISK ASSOCIATED WITH HEARING LOSS

The Alzheimer’ s Society says the amount of hearing loss and length of time someone has hearing loss impacts dementia risk. It may mean that areas of the brain that help us understand sounds and speech have to work harder to understand what the sounds are.

The additional effort may lead to changes in the brain that affects our memory and thinking abilities. The link is not fully understood, the society says, and researchers still haven’ t determined if hearing loss itself is a risk factor or an early symptom.

Nearly double the amount of people with mild hearing loss will develop dementia compared to those without loss. With moderate hearing loss, the Alzheimer’ s

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Society says the risk is tripled and was nearly five times with severe hearing loss. But even low levels of loss have been associated with increased dementia risk and a decrease in memory and thinking skills, the society says.

Hearing loss is also linked to quicker shrinkage of areas of the brain responsible for processing sounds and memories.