2024 Update of Lancet Commission on dementia strengthens case for addressing hearing loss
The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia, published on the 31st of July, has provided further support that addressing hearing loss in midlife can decrease the risk of dementia. This provides important additional support of the importance of addressing hearing loss early to improve cognitive health.
The report has completed “a new meta-analyses of the risk of hearing loss and depression for future dementia and reviewed and used the most recent literature on worldwide risk and prevalences of all risk factors to calculate new population attributable fractions for all risks.”
Reworking International data and adding two new modifiable risks they produced a new analysis of the potentially modifiable risks for dementia in mid life in which hearing loss is now 7%.
The also concluded on the basis of the new data and analysis that “The evidence that treating hearing loss decreases the risk of dementia is now stronger than when our previous Commission report was published. Use of hearing aids appears to be particularly effective in people with hearing loss and additional risk factors for dementia.”
Based on significant additional evidence the authors concluded that “The observational evidence of the benefits of hearing aids for dementia risk is increasing. Even if only the studies with long follow-up are considered, to reduce the chance of reverse causality, the evidence on hearing aids reducing dementia risk is consistent and supportive. Implementing the use of hearing aids, if effective in preventing dementia, would likely be cost saving.”
The full report can be accessed at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/fulltext
CIICA briefing on Why Hearing Matters for Health Ageing can be accessed here https://ciicanet.org/resources/ciica-and-eurociu-launch-new-resource-why-hearing-well-matters-for-healthy-ageing/
