Normalising hearing checks among adults in their 30s could help ward off some dementias in later life, experts have suggested.

Maintaining good hearing is one of a number of steps people can take to reduce their risk of dementia, according to the new Think Brain Health Check-In from Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The online checker highlights the steps people can take to try and ward off some dementias.

A new poll of 2,200 UK adults, conducted by YouGov on behalf of the charity, found that while 35% of people said they’ve had concerns about their hearing, more than half of those (59%) reported that they have not done anything about it.

Several studies have identified a relationship between hearing loss and dementia risk.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the new brain health checker, Dr Sarah Bauermeister, senior scientist at Dementia Platforms UK, said: “In my own research, we found that hearing aid users had a 50% lower risk of mild cognitive impairment if they wore their hearing aid for their hearing impairment compared to those who did not use their hearing aids.

“And this was in a study of over 4,000 individuals from the National Alzheimer’s Disease Coordinating Centre.

“In our second study of 2,000 people with hearing impairment (and mild cognitive impairment), we found that these people, if they had hearing impairment and wore their hearing aid, the progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia was reduced by 27%.”

She added: “It is very important that hearing aids are more accessible, more affordable, and can more easily be used by those that have hearing impairment.

“Our current work is reviewing the difficulties of fitting a hearing aid for someone with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, because although we can see in the research that it does protect against cognitive impairment, if someone can’t fit or use a hearing aid, then this effect is then decreased.

“So regular hearing checks at all population levels is very important and this is across the lifespan so that it’s normalised to have a hearing check whether you’re 30 or 40.

“And then if we normalise hearing checks, it will normalise the wearing of a hearing aid, and the stigma will then be reduced about wearing a hearing aid.”

She added that maintaining good hearing health could also help reduce other dementia risk factors including social isolation and physical inactivity.

“If we start looking at hearing aid use this can help with social isolation, which is another one of our risk factors,” she said.

“And this social isolation in turn is associated with poor mental health or depression which can double the risk of dementia on its own.

“And so factors to reduce risk need not be considered in isolation.

“Hearing loss has been shown to result in a physical inactivity, which in turn may lead to obesity and increase in type two diabetes.

“So by addressing a major risk factor in midlife, such as hearing aid use, we could potentially reduce for further factors.”

“People with hearing impairments are at a higher risk of falls, which in turn it falling is the leading cause of traumatic brain injury and older adults above the age of 80.”

– The new Alzheimer’s Research UK Think Brain Health Check-In tool can be found at: alzheimersresearchuk.org/brain-health/think-brain-health/