Difficulty Hearing Speech-in-Noise Could be a Risk for Dementia

How many of us have experienced challenges hearing our dining companions well in a crowded restaurant, or a noisy family dining room? One of the most common signs of age-related hearing loss is difficulty understanding speech well in background noise. It’s easy to shrug this off, but it now appears our ability to understand speech-in-noise may be an important indicator for developing dementia.

A new study led by University of Oxford researchers on over 82,000 participants with over 10 years of follow-up has now shown that difficulty hearing spoken conversations is associated with up to 91% increased risk of dementia.*

What’s more, in this study, patients who used hearing devices tended to have significantly reduced dementia risk to near-normal levels.

Modern hearing aids use two different digital technologies to help improve understanding Speech-in Noise. One is Directional Microphones, which focus on accentuating speech sounds coming from the front, while attenuating noise from behind and to the sides. The second is through Digital Noise Reduction, which sharpens the sounds of speech while reducing the sounds of noise.

Speech-in-noise difficulties is one sign of hearing loss. Do you or a loved one:

• Often have to ask people to repeat themselves?

• Have difficulty understanding someone from another room?

• Find that others seem to mumble?

• Find yourself lip-reading a lot?

• Turn up the volume of the TV, radio or phone?

If you answer ‘yes’ to more one or more of these, you should take the first step to better hearing by scheduling a FREE hearing test at our clinic.

At Hearing Well Matters, if hearing loss is present, hearing aids may be recommended, but there is no obligation or pressure to buy. There is a range of hearing aid styles, technology levels and price points that are available to meet the needs of almost anyone.

Of special note, Hearing Well Matters now offers demonstration Hearing Devices, which allows you to test-drive a pair of the most up-to-date digital hearing devices for free for up to 60 days, before you make any decision to buy. Hassle-free. Pressure-free.

Call us at (647) 247-2704 or email us at [email protected], to set up a FREE hearing test today!

*Speech-in-noise hearing impairment is associated with an increased risk of incident dementia in 82,039 UK Biobank participants, J.S. Stevenson, L. Clifton, E. Kuzma, T.J. Littlejohns, 21 July 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12416