Appropriately fit hearing aids improving cognition, sure. But HL without hearing aids “causing” “dementia” (not just affecting cognition–which includes a lot of mental processes) I still think is in question. There are some intriguing study findings, I’d agree. Her scare tactics alerted me to a line of research I knew nothing about (which doesn’t justify the tactics–just sayin’)
The overview study you attached is authored by at least two of the researchers in the study whose results I’m interested in seeing. That study is called Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) and is NIH funded.
In my own case, I went to this audiologist because I hadn’t seen one in a couple of years and I felt my hearing had worsened. Pandemic restrictions happened not long after that failed visit and it turned out to be about another two years before I got tested. That was of course by a different audi. Indeed, my high frequency hearing had declined (but mid and low unchanged over many years). That meant my hearing aids weren’t helping in that range. I couldn’t distinguish between words like wood and hood for example.
The dementia claim audiologist and the assertion that not wearing aids even in a quiet environment can cause irreparable cognitive damage made me think maybe I’d never be able to make those distinctions, hear speech clearly again, if they’re right. But with a pair of P70s after the first fitting, I no longer mistook or missed a word in conversation (aside from noisy environments). The effect was immediate. Which made me think–what brain adaptation? If the first audi had just tested and adjusted my hearing aids accordingly (as I’d asked), I’d have been hearing what I was missing again. Despite not wearing the aids all day every day.
Admittedly, the newer technology made a big difference in clarity. But I’d have heard with my old aids being properly adjusted. The whole experience, including two years of periodically wondering if my prized body part was going to turn into mush, made (and makes) me question this issue of HL-cognitive impairment. Especially the degree and types of stimulation needed, since the brain gets stimulation in many ways. Also, the extent of its resilience and under what circumstances.
I recall in another post you said you prefer a quiet environment too. There’s a part of me, I think, that just resists extroverts and the noisy, chaotic environment they’ve created and love, insisting that we all must hear that screaming too. If not, we might not even be able to remember or think at some point.
Ok, that’s all.