Hearing aids may reduce risk of dementia for those at high risk, study suggests

Pastor Sam Martz has been a minister for 61 years — listening is a job requirement.

“I have people that I know that can’t hear well, and they drop out of a conversation. Well, as a minister, I can’t do that,” he said.

Martz participated in a trial, dubbed Achieve, that showed hearing aids may reduce cognitive decline in older adults at high risk of dementia, according to a study published Tuesday in the Lancet, 

Dr. Frank Lin, the study’s coauthor and a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told CBS News past thinking was “‘Ah, hearing loss. It doesn’t really matter. So why bother?’ I think this Achieve trial is clearly showing, well, it really does matter. It makes a big difference.”

The first-of-its-kind study looked at nearly 1,000 people between 70 and 84 years old with untreated hearing loss. Researchers found that, in the group using hearing aids over three years, cognitive decline slowed by 48% in people with increased risk factors for dementia, such as diabetes, hypertension and livaing alone.

There was no significant change in those not at high risk.

“When we saw a 50% reduction, we were sort of blown away and surprised,” Lin said.

Aside from its links to dementia, hearing loss has other detrimental effects on health, such as increased risk of falls, depression and social isolation.

“We have two children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Two on the way,” Martz said. “I have a future and I want to hear what my family says.”