Hearing and Visual Aids Linked to Slower Age-Related Memory Loss

A study from the University of Manchester in the U.K. published in PLOS One determined the rate of mental decline among older adults was halved after participants underwent cataract surgery. A separate study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found persons who got hearing aids slowed the rate of cognitive decline by 75 percent. Experts suggest the relationship between hearing and visual problems and cognitive decline could be caused by combined isolation, stigma, and physical inactivity. The first study was conducted with 2,068 individuals who underwent cataract surgery between Wave 2 and Wave 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging survey from 2002 to 2014. They were compared with 3,636 individuals with no cataract surgery. The other study involved 2,040 participants in the American Health and Retirement survey from 1996 to 2014. Both studies assessed cognitive decline by testing memory, asking participants to recall 10 words immediately and then at the end of the cognitive function module. "Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline," notes Manchester's Asri Maharani. "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."