Hearing Loss

Helen Keller once said that losing your sight meant losing contact with things, but that losing your hearing meant losing contact with other people.

48 million Americans have clinically significant hearing loss, and 80% of them have never been diagnosed or treated. A big percentage of this group are age 55+.

Hearing loss ranks with arthritis and hypertension as the most common chronic medical problems in the world. The problem gets more common and progressively worse with age.

The National Council on Aging, Johns Hopkins University and many others link hearing loss to:

  • Dementia and Alzheimer’s
  • Cognitive decline and acceleration of brain atrophy
  • Increases in anger, fear, phobias and detachment
  • Difficulty understanding speech and communicating
  • Social withdrawal and isolation
  • Strained personal and professional relationships
  • Threats to personal safety

People often resist or deny hearing loss for 10 years or more until long after the problem has worsened and cognitive decline has occurred. It is important to find the problem and track it.