The links between hearing loss and the onset of dementia have been known for some time.
Now, former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he has been warned about developing the condition.
He told the media that he has suffered from hearing loss for 12 years and now has been told that not wearing hearing aids will increase his chances of getting dementia.
Severe hearing loss
Clarkson, 63, told The Sunday Times that his doctor had told him to get hearing aids to help with his severe hearing loss.
‘My brain is having to use a huge amount of computing power trying to fill in the bits of speech it hasn’t been able to hear,” he said.
He said he has been experiencing huge blanks in conversations, even when someone is standing right beside him.
Snazzy hearing aids
Clarkson told readers he had now obtained “very snazzy and incredibly clever’ hearing aids as a solution to the problem.
There is a strong link between hearing loss and dementia, as well as general cognitive decline.
The NHS says: “Hearing aids, particularly when adopted early, are an extremely effective intervention that reduce not only the risk of, but potentially the impact of, dementia and other associated co-morbidities, including depression.”
Compelling evidence
It adds that people with severe untreated hearing loss are five times more likely to develop dementia and someone with moderate hearing loss is three times as likely .
Studies have found hearing aids reduce the risk of dementia as they lower the strain on the brain in trying to decipher sounds.
These findings have also been widely reported in The Lancet which said: The evidence is compelling that treating hearing loss is a promising way of reducing dementia risk. This is the time to increase awareness of and detection of hearing loss, as well as the acceptability and usability of hearing aids.”
