As we get older, our body functions and senses naturally deteriorate. We could develop conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer's in our later years. But a Protect study from the University of Exeter found that wearing hearing aids for age-related hearing problems could help in maintaining brain function and thus, possibly prevent memory loss and other degenerative conditions.
The study included 25,000 people aged 50 or over who undertook annual cognitive tests over two years. The participants were split into two groups – one group wore hearing aids and the other did not. After two years, people in the group who wore hearing aids performed better in measures assessing working memory and aspects of attention than those who did not wear them.
On one measure, people who wore hearing aids showed faster reaction times - in everyday terms, this is a reflection of concentration, for example, “straining to hear a sound”, “peering closely at an object of great interest”, or “listening intently to someone speaking”.
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