Published by Sue Hughes
A large population-based study provides further evidence that hearing loss is a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia.
The new study moves the field forward in that it used a measure of hearing impairment to assess an individual's ability to hear speech in the presence of background noise. Results of the study were similar to those of previous research linking hearing impairment that used more traditional methods to assess hearing.
The current study also included a larger population than previous studies, and it addressed the problem of reverse causation, showing that hearing loss leads to dementia, rather than the other way round.
"Our findings build upon existing evidence that hearing impairment is linked to the later development of dementia," senior investigator Thomas J. Littlejohns, PhD, senior epidemiologist at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.
"We still don't know for sure that this is a causal association, but I would say the evidence for this link is accumulating, and for patients who are concerned about their hearing, this is another reason to seek medical advice," he said....
Read the full article on MedScape here.
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