Could this common sign of aging make your precious memories FADE?
You know what they say…
Use it or lose it.
Well, it turns out they’re not just talking about your muscles!
Because there’s another part of your body that can ATROPHY if you stop using it…
And that’s your brain!
You already know how your senses can become IMPAIRED as you age…
And for 2 out of 3 seniors over the age of 70, that could mean hearing loss.
Now, loss of hearing isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s been linked to an increased risk in falls and hospitalizations and could adversely affect your overall physical health and mental wellbeing.
But there’s something else…
And it’s not just the CONFUSION you may experience when you can’t hear as well as you used to.
Here’s a scary thing that could happen when your brain stops processing sound.
Can you hear me now?
A recent study out of Johns Hopkins right here in Baltimore shed light on how your brain could change when your hearing is IMPAIRED.
Study subjects were older folks… with an average age in their mid-70s… who participated in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
They had ZERO significant brain issues at the start of the study…
But later brain scans showed changes in their brains’ “white matter” that correlated with the emergence of poorer hearing function and auditory processing.
I’m not just talking about needing to turn the TV way up in order to hear it…
But also trouble hearing conversations out in public, where there’s a lot of background noise, too.
Specifically, researchers detected structural changes in the area of the brain that connects the “memory center” (a.k.a. the hippocampus) with the frontal cortex.
That’s right – their brains had been physically COMPROMISED!
This confirms… or at least adds to… what Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in 2014 about how hearing loss appears to be associated with FAST-TRACKED brain shrinkage in older folks.
And not just in the part of the brain that deals with hearing…
But also those brain areas that play roles in memory and sorting out the signals from our 5 senses.
Those are the SAME parts that have been shown to be involved in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
Let’s just say you don’t want to lose ANY brain volume there!
Johns Hopkins researchers also found that the worse the hearing loss… the higher the dementia risk.
We’re talking 2X the dementia risk with mild hearing loss… 3X with moderate loss… and 5X the risk with severe loss.
Now, you may be wondering whether promoting healthy hearing will do ANYTHING to save your precious memories.
And you might already be struggling with whether to wear a hearing aid.
Well, early findings indicate that routinely wearing a hearing aid is associated with BETTER working memory and attention span.
A 2019 study showed how seniors who got a hearing aid as soon as their hearing loss was diagnosed were at a lower risk for the development of dementia.
And not just by a little – those wearing a hearing aid saw their dementia risk reduced by 18%!
But there’s something you should do BEFORE getting fitted for one.
Eliminate REVERSIBLE culprits behind your hearing loss!
If you’re experiencing any loss of hearing, you’ll want to have a doc check your ears for wax buildup or some other physical obstruction…
And you’ll want to take a hard look at your meds to see if any of them have been associated with auditory complaints.
If you STILL need a hearing aid after that, wearing one could help keep you socially engaged…
And that could help STIMULATE your brain and help keep it from WASTING away.
There are other ways you can PRESERVE and even GROW your brain volume, too, including…
- ADOPTING the Mediterranean diet, full of UNPROCESSED foods that are loaded with nutrients like fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and dairy
- THICKENING your cerebral cortex by building your muscles with resistance training
- BOOSTING your omega-3s, as high EPA and DHA levels have been associated with larger brain size, and
- ADDING brain-boosting supplements like luteolin and taurine to your routine.
To not losing brain power,
Melissa Young
