Cataract surgery, hearing aid may boost the aging brain

You won't jump for joy when you're told you need hearing aids or cataract surgery. But get this: Both appear to slow mental decline in older adults. That's what researchers concluded after studying more than 2,000 people in England who had cataract surgery and more than 2,000 Americans given hearing aids. "These studies underline just how important it is to overcome the barriers which deny people from accessing hearing and visual aids," researcher Piers Dawes, of the University of Manchester in England, said in a university news release.

"It's not really certain why hearing and visual problems have an impact on cognitive [memory and thinking skill] decline, but I'd guess that isolation, stigma and the resultant lack of physical activity that are linked to hearing and vision problems might have something to do with it," said Dawes, a lecturer in audiology and deafness. For comparison, the researchers looked at thousands of people who had not had cataract surgery or obtained hearing aids.

The investigators compared the rates of mental decline before and after the patients had their vision and hearing improved. The rate of mental decline was halved after cataract surgery and was 75 per cent lower after starting to use a hearing aid.

Dawes noted that people might not want to wear hearing aids due to stigma, because the amplification is not good enough, or because they're uncomfortable.

"Perhaps a way forward is adult screening to better identify hearing and vision problems and in the case of hearing loss, demedicalizing the whole process so treatment is done outside the clinical setting. That could reduce stigma," Dawes suggested.

"Wearable hearing devices are coming on stream nowadays which might also be helpful. They not only assist your hearing, but give you access to the internet and other services," he added.

According to Dawes' colleague, Asri Maharani, "Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline.

We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting -- though we can't say yet that this is a causal relationship."

The cataract surgery study was published Oct. 11 in the journal PLoS One. The hearing aid study was published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

 As human brains age, they lose their ability to recall memories. Our memory peaks at the age of 30, and then it declines gradually with time. So it's not surprising when older people begin to forget small things—like where they put their car keys or glasses.

Princeton neuroscientist Sam Wang says that this kind of normal memory loss—separate from more severe conditions like Alzheimer's disease and dementia—isn't a cause for concern, though it's still not well-understood what physical processes underlie this. He says scientists don't really know why the brain becomes less plastic as we grow older, but that it might have to do with the brain's decreasing ability to form new connections or to easily modulate the weight of the connections between nerve cells.

But Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry and aging at UCLA, says there are ways that we can reduce the effects of this kind of memory loss by exercising our brains—training our neurons the same way that we can exercise our muscles at the gym using relatively simple techniques. He distills the basics of these down to three concepts: "look, snap, connect."

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Cataract surgery, hearing aid may boost the aging brain

You wont jump for joy when youre told you need hearing aids or cataract surgery. But get this: Both appear to slow mental decline in older adults. Thats what researchers concluded after studying more than 2,000 people in England who had cataract surgery and more than 2,000 Americans given hearing aids. These studies underline just how important it is to overcome the barriers which deny people from accessing hearing and visual aids, researcher Piers Dawes, of the University of Manchester in England, said in a university news release. Its not really certain why hearing and visual problems have an impact on cognitive [memory and thinking skill] decline, but Id guess that isolation, stigma and the resultant lack of physical activity that are linked to hearing and vision problems might have something to do with it, said Dawes, a lecturer in audiology and deafness. For comparison, the researchers looked at thousands of people who had not had cataract surgery or obtained hearing aids. The investigators compared the rates of mental decline before and after the patients had their vision and hearing improved. The rate of mental decline was halved after cataract surgery and was 75 per cent lower after starting to use a hearing aid. Dawes noted that people might not want to wear hearing aids due to stigma, because the amplification is not good enough, or because theyre uncomfortable. Perhaps a way forward is adult screening to better identify hearing and vision problems and in the case of hearing loss, demedicalizing the whole process so treatment is done outside the clinical setting. That could reduce stigma, Dawes suggested. Wearable hearing devices are coming on stream nowadays which might also be helpful. They not only assist your hearing, but give you access to the internet and other services, he added. According to Dawes colleague, Asri Maharani, Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline. We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting -- though we cant say yet that this is a causal relationship. The cataract surgery study was published Oct. 11 in the journal PLoS One. The hearing aid study was published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. As human brains age, they lose their ability to recall memories. Our memory peaks at the age of 30, and then it declines gradually with time. So its not surprising when older people begin to forget small thingslike where they put their car keys or glasses. Princeton neuroscientist Sam Wang says that this kind of normal memory lossseparate from more severe conditions like Alzheimers disease and dementiaisnt a cause for concern, though its still not well-understood what physical processes underlie this. He says scientists dont really know why the brain becomes less plastic as we grow older, but that it might have to do with the brains decreasing ability to form new connections or to easily modulate the weight of the connections between nerve cells. But Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry and aging at UCLA, says there are ways that we can reduce the effects of this kind of memory loss by exercising our brainstraining our neurons the same way that we can exercise our muscles at the gym using relatively simple techniques. He distills the basics of these down to three concepts: look, snap, connect. HealthDay