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(NEXSTAR) – The number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to double by 2060. New research is shedding light on warning signs and risk factors that could signal cognitive decline ahead.
One clear risk factor, the research shows, is hearing loss.
“We know from a lot of public health studies that hearing loss changes the brain, and we have also seen in studies that hearing loss is consistently linked to a higher risk of dementia over time,” said Jennifer Deal, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a recent media briefing on Alzheimer’s.
It’s not just about volume, Deal said, but rather about hearing clarity.
“So you can hear someone speaking, but the words kind of blur together,” she explained. “So, the word sphere, S-P-H-E-R-E, for example, may sound like the word ear, E-A-R.”
It’s not clear exactly how hearing loss and Alzheimer’s are connected, Deal said. One possibility is that hearing issues could make it harder to connect socially, and social isolation could make cognitive decline worse.
Intervention – like using a hearing aid – could be helpful in fighting off dementia, but the research is mixed, Deal said.
Hearing loss isn’t the only risk factor that appears in the research.
“It is not one single factor that is contributing to that risk,” said Adam Spira, a professor in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins. “There are a whole range of factors that play a role.”
Another important risk factor, Spira pointed out, has to do with sleep. “We now believe that sleep disturbances, such as not getting enough sleep, having your sleep be of poor quality, more fragmented (sleep) over the course of the night – those sorts of disturbances are risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, according to the developing research literature.”
Sleep apnea, a common condition that obstructs breathing while sleeping, may also increase people’s risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s, Spira said.
Other risk factors, according to Spira, include cardio-metabolic problems, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, traumatic brain injury, and low physical activity.
As the research unfolds, it’s becoming clear there is no “magic bullet for dementia prevention,” Deal said.
“We really need to probably be tackling a number of different factors in order to move the needle.”
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