Dr's Casebook: Hearing aids may transform your life and your health

Dr Keith Souter writes: A hearing loss was detected and hearing aids were supplied, which made a huge difference to the hearing. Not only that, but after wearing them for a couple for weeks it was clear that they actually improved the sense of wellbeing.

Many people have hearing loss, but are not aware of it. It is something that is more likely to occur as one gets older. In the UK, around 40 per cent of people aged 50 years old and 70 per cent of people aged 70 years and older have hearing loss.

Up to 75 per cent of people living in care homes are affected.

Yet for one reason or another only one in ten people who would benefit from hearing aids actually use them. For a lot of people it is vanity, associating hearing aids with getting old. This is a shame, since research shows that people who have disabling hearing loss are more likely to become isolated, depressed and it is even suggested they may be more prone to dementia.

Recent research published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity followed up over 10,000 people who had an audiological test for ten year periods after their test.

They found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 25 per cent lower risk of death than those who never wore them. They suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people’s health and prevent early death. How that occurs they cannot explain, but it may well be to do with feeling less isolated and because hearing better has a positive effect on mental health.

You can get a free audiological test on the NHS via your GP, or you can get tested at some large pharmacy chains or opticians. This test is often free. You can also get an idea by taking an online three-minute test from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People if you have headphones that you can plug into your computer.

https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/take-online-hearing-check/