Posted on 05/04/2022 9:04:55 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
A new nationally representative study found hearing impairment and vision impairment to be independently associated with cognitive impairment.
After considering sex, age and other socio-demographic characteristics, older adults with hearing impairment had more than double the odds of cognitive impairment, while those with vision impairment had more than triple the odds of cognitive impairment. When an older adult experienced both hearing impairment and vision impairment, the odds of cognitive impairment were eight-fold. Approximately one half of adults aged 65 and older with both hearing and vision impairment also had cognitive impairment.
There have been several studies in the past decade linking hearing loss to dementia and cognitive decline, but less attention has been paid to vision loss and dual sensory impairment.
"Given that half of adults with both vision and hearing loss experience serious cognitive problems, sensory loss could be used to help identify those at risk for cognitive decline and dementia," says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson.
"Dual sensory impairment prevents an individual from compensating for the loss of one sense through the use of another," said co-author Aliya Nowczynski. "Our findings emphasize the need to reach out to older adults with dual sensory impairment, to assess whether there are opportunities for early intervention."
The authors emphasize the importance of considering treatment options for sensory impairment to support the cognitive health of older adults.
"It is important that we consider the accessibility of common treatments for sensory impairment, such as hearing aids and cataract surgery" says co-author Andie MacNeil.
Several possible theories that may explain the association between sensory impairment and cognitive impairment include cognitive deterioration due to decreased auditory and visual input, social disengagement and loneliness due to problems communicating, and age-related degeneration of the central nervous system.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
While I am seriously deaf and only partially helped with hearing aids, I am very fortunate to have received “second sight” which is a trait in my family.
It happens when far sightedness catches up to near sightedness. Still need reading glasses but no longer need glasses to see far off. Wearing glasses since 14 years old.
Thanks. I just passed that along to my wife to pass to her friend.
I appreciate the research.
The thing about these treatments is they take too long to act. PC is usually found late because of its nature. The treatment is much more harsh than, say breast cancer or kidney cancer, because the patient doesn’t have time to act. Or wait to see if something works.
I swear, when my wife was diagnosed they moved her through the system so fast I don’t think her feet touched the ground.
I am all about non toxic treatment—and asked about these types of things. I wasn’t laughed out of the office, but they explained why it was not practical for PC.
Except my relatives kidney tumor disappeared in under two months…
It’s true, Even with Lasik it is harder and harder to think. I am severely hearing disabled.
Did you miss the part where I said that Kidney and other Organ cancers don’t move as fast? The issue with PC in the head of the organ is it located at the junction of your entire digestive system. It is directly connected to the liver and the stomach. If cells get out, and into those systems…turn out the lights.
Two months with stage IV PC is about a month too long for something to work.
The Steve Jobs/RGB pancreatic cancer was in the “tail” of the organ. That is much more treatable and this stuff would be more practical in that situation. Steve Jobs could have been cured if he followed his Drs advice.
Ear wax makes hearing harder, bad doctors screw up catract surgery, Loud noise damages hearing. Ask those who work around it. Meniere’s is another hearing damaging disease, not so much the disease as the crap steroids they use to treat it. Destroys the little ear hairs. Then come the hearing aids which makes ear wax worse. And you just happen to be the one who can’t get near their water removal system. So are forced into every 4 months visit to the ENT for removal. Now your cursed with Vertigo and falls, a cane, I loaded with steel nuts as a weapon. It sure doesn’t prevent the falls.
And those Flight Deck level hearing aids you now wear hate noisy places. But this world is very, very noisy. 3 mins in Kroger’s and your heaing is shot for hours.
No more indoor range time. Plugs, and muffs after you take out the hearing aids. As the next attack your Deaf.
Drop of sweet oil the night before loosens the wax attached to the drum.
loud
Because one's hearing loss varies a lot at different spots on the frequency spectrum. When I get tested for re-calibration of my hearing aids a print out of a bar graph shows my decibels of loss at each point on the scale. The aid is then adjusted up at those specific frequencies. And this is done for each ear separately
I have a profound loss in the higher frequencies, which is progressively worse as they get higher. So those areas get boosted more. My aids have a 12 (6 up and 6 down) decibel volume range that I can adjust on the fly. My audiologist and I work together to find the best spot for that 12 decibel range.
Thanks.
BKMK
I’m just recycling this very important post.
in
My wife and I had hearing tests, and we basically flunked the tests.
We are now fitted with expensive and excellent hearing aids.
Now, we are starting to appreciate them in our lives together, and all of the current data re hearing loss and negative cognitive impact/dementia.
It is great you both can hear better now. I know we can get used to how things are and forget just how much we have lost.
A friend of mine has had chronic back pain and the doctor gave muscle relaxants because opiates are a “no-no.” His pain is not really being touched by these relaxants.
He has COPD and uses a walker and a nice electric scooter. He will collapse randomly from lack of oxygen, yet, they stopped giving him oxygen—maybe because he keeps smoking.
Basically, he has been immobilized for a couple years.
However, for his birthday, I got him a supplement for each condition. He has been on each for over three weeks and he has been walking without help (slowly) and lifting heavier boxes and such he couldn't touch for a long time.
Sometimes a little assist can do wonders and give people back their lives.
I am glad you have some of your fuller life back, sir
“Please also work on your general health, however you can.”
About 40-50 foot outside our back door is a semi flat Cul de Sac of about 150 yards in length. I try to daily walk about 3-6 plus round trips on the 150 yard Cul de Sac.
My wife is a gourmet Med diet chef, and our weight stays the same.
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