Highland Park Clinic Helps Prevent Dementia

This September 150 North Shore patients and relatives hiked 3.2 miles to provide funding and raise awareness of a potentially incapacitating condition.

Not breast cancer, Aids, or heart disease but...hearing loss.

“Hearing deficiency is the prologue to dementia, “says Highland Park audiologist Dr. Ronna Fisher Au.D. “New studies show even patients with minimal hearing problems lose significant brain tissue and grey matter every year.[1] The result over time is memory problems, increased likelihood of falling, accelerated cognitive decline, and dementia, accompanied by personality changes, and extreme depression...all that may end in a premature death.”

These newfound dangers of declining hearing ability come largely from recent studies done at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Researchers there have shown 1) hearing loss ages the brain an average of seven years[2] and, 2) even mild hearing loss doubles the risk of dementia over ten years (a severe loss increases that risk five-fold).[3] One explanation is that the brain atrophies from lack of stimulation, a classic “use it or lose it” phenomenon.

Dr. Fisher says, “We thought Baby Boomers were just abusing their ears, now we know they were abusing their brains. You hear with your brain. The ears are just an appendage to send sound signals to the brain. We face a looming catastrophe unless we adopt an entirely new paradigm for treating hearing loss.” Dr. Fisher is the founder of Hearing Health Centers in Highland Park, Chicago, Naperville, and Oak Brook.

One key to that new paradigm is early detection. “Everyone gets routine checks for cholesterol and high blood pressure” says Dr. Fisher. “but most people haven’t had a hearing exam since they were in grade school! Every adult over the age of 55 should have yearly hearing checkups. Why? Because this is preventable condition. With early treatment we can stimulate the brain again and reduce the risk of declining cognitive function, memory problems and falling.”

The new paradigm for treating hearing loss also requires a closer working relationship between audiologists and the rest of a patient’s health team. “They need to know their patient’s hearing status and we need to know their cognitive status,” says Dr. Fisher. “The days in which our profession works in a vacuum are over.”

Doctors of Audiology are uniquely qualified in brain functioning. They can monitor cognitive ability and fine tune the hearing devices so they maximize the sound input reaching the brain. In addition, audiologists are trained to track changes in focus, memory and listening skills.

Finally, myths about hearing ability have to be dispelled. Most people, baby boomers included, believe that 1) hearing ability normally declines with age and 2) it’s not a problem they have to fix. Both statements are misconceptions. “First, it is never normal, at any age, not to hear,” says

Dr. Fisher. “Most hearing loss doesn’t result from aging, but noise exposure. Loud noises over time specifically affect the brain’s ability to hear the pitches of speech, resulting in poor clarity and understanding. Second, seeking early treatment is the key to preserving brain function.”

While the cost of hearing aids is progressively coming down, not everyone can afford the devices’ out-of-pocket costs. Helping those people was the purpose of September’s Hike 4 Better Hearing. Entry fees and sponsorships were donated to the Fisher Foundation for Hearing Health Care which provides free hearing devices to those who can’t afford them or qualify for financing.

But the Hike also had a larger purpose. “This hike is the beginning of a tradition,” says

Dr. Fisher. “It’s an acknowledgement that hearing loss is more than losing the ability to hear the sounds of life. Untreated, it leads to dementia and other serious medical problems. .

As audiologists our new mission is to stop that decline. We have the expertise and the treatments to do it. What’s critical now is getting that word to patients. Everyone over 55 needs a yearly hearing checkup!

Hearing Health Center is located at the Crossroads Shopping Center, 185 Skokie Valley Rd in Highland Park.

[1] Association of hearing impairment with brain volume changes in older adults.

Lin et al, Neuroimage 2014 Apr 15; 90:84-92

[2] Hearing loss and cognition

Lin et al, Neuropsychology 2011 Nov 25(6) 763-770

[3] Hearing Loss and Incident Dementia

Lin et al, Archives of Neurology Feb 14, 2011, Vol 68, No.2