Only 1 Percent of People Named This Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline. It’s Not Sleep, Diet, or Exercise

Researchers say this trait is critical for protecting an aging brain. One study found that treating it can slow cognitive decline by 48 percent over a three-year period.

When Americans are asked what it takes to live a long and healthy life, the answers are usually the same: sleep, exercise, and eating right. But a new survey suggests they’re leaving out one of the factors scientists say matters most for the aging brain—their hearing.

The survey, conducted by the global hearing-health initiative LISTEN TO THIS, polled over 1,000 Americans on the key to a long and healthy life. Only 1 percent named hearing.

The 2024 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention,

But the 2024 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care report named hearing loss as one of the largest modifiable risk factors for dementia.

The report estimated that addressing all 14 of its identified risk factors could theoretically prevent or delay 45 percent of dementia cases worldwide.

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Sigurd Brandt, MD, is the medical director of Head of Hearing Health at GN Group, a global Danish company that specializes in audio solutions, which is part of LISTEN TO THIS. Brandt told Inc. that the lack of awareness about the connection between hearing and cognitive health has long been an issue, even though many associate a loss of hearing with aging.

He noted that if someone has hearing loss

He noted that if someone has hearing loss and does not treat it, the brain naturally begins to compensate. “It starts deprioritizing the space and reput,” Brandt said, adding that it is similar to “if you stop going to the gym, your biceps become smaller because you don’t use them.”

How hearing affects the brain

One reason why hearing raises the risk for dementia is the cognitive load. When the brain has to work harder to decode incomplete sound, it may divert re

Source: www.inc.com