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Hearing loss can fuel isolation and raise dementia risk, experts say: Use hearing aids when problems begin

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Experts at a South Korean ear-health forum urged people not to dismiss hearing loss and dizziness as normal aging, citing links with isolation, depression, cognitive decline and falls.
  • A Seoul National University professor said long-term studies found dementia risk was about twice as high with mild hearing loss, three times higher with moderate loss and five times higher with severe loss, while cautioning that hearing loss does not directly establish dementia.
  • Speakers said hearing aids work better when people start using them as everyday communication problems emerge, and discussed smartphone- and AI-assisted rehabilitation.

Hearing loss can quietly narrow a person’s world long before it becomes obvious to others. At a public forum in Seoul, ear specialists warned that difficulty hearing can reduce conversation and social activity, foster depression and isolation, and contribute to cognitive decline and dementia risk.

The Korean Otological Society held the forum on the 8th at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu under the theme “60 Years of Footprints, Ear Health in the Era of Living to 100.” The event marked the 60th Ear Day. Experts urged people to seek screening and active treatment for hearing loss and dizziness instead of treating them as inevitable signs of aging.

If communication becomes difficult because people cannot hear well, they can become socially isolated and depressed, and it can also lead to cognitive decline.

· Koo Ja-wonThe otolaryngology society leader explained why hearing health is a broader public-health issue in an aging society.

The warning comes as South Korea enters a super-aged society, with one in five citizens aged 65 or older. The society’s president, Park Si-nae, said the event should listen carefully to the voices of patients, the public, journalists and medical society members. Koo Ja-won, head of the Korean Society of Otorhinolaryngology, cited progress including newborn hearing screening, hearing-aid support for people with disabilities and broader health-insurance coverage for cochlear implants. He also identified unresolved issues, including preventing noise-induced hearing loss among school-age children, expanding support for older people’s hearing aids and covering bilateral cochlear implants and external-device replacement.

Professor Song Jae-jin of Seoul National University presented long-term research showing that dementia risk was about twice as high among people with mild hearing loss, three times as high with moderate loss and about five times as high with severe loss. Korean studies also found higher dementia risk among older people with hearing loss, while hearing-aid users showed lower risk than non-users. Researchers propose several possible pathways, including changes in brain systems that process sound, the cognitive effort required to understand unclear speech, and reduced social and language stimulation caused by withdrawal from conversation and outings.

Song cautioned that the evidence does not mean hearing loss directly causes dementia. A large randomized clinical trial published in 2023 found no clear difference in the rate of cognitive decline between all hearing-aid users and a control group. However, among participants at higher risk of cognitive decline, those who received hearing rehabilitation declined significantly more slowly. Song said hearing loss is a modifiable risk factor, but not one that hearing aids can be claimed to eliminate.

We are not at the stage of saying that using hearing aids prevents dementia, but hearing loss is a modifiable risk factor that raises dementia risk.

· Song Jae-jinThe Seoul National University professor qualified the evidence linking hearing loss and dementia.

Experts also argued against waiting until hearing loss becomes severe before using hearing aids. Professor Moon Il-joon of Sungkyunkwan University cited overseas research showing that people waited nearly nine years on average after diagnosis before using them. Social perceptions of hearing aids as an older person’s symbol and the cost can delay use in South Korea. Moon said communication difficulties, social isolation and cognitive burden begin even with mild hearing loss, and prolonged neglect can limit the brain’s ability to distinguish and understand sounds after stimulation returns.

The forum also examined AI and smartphones as tools for rehabilitation. Users could repeatedly listen to and distinguish words and sentences, while clinicians could remotely monitor and adjust hearing-aid use. Future systems may analyze hearing, living environments and usage records to offer individualized rehabilitation programs. A second session addressed dizziness and fall prevention, noting that causes can include positional vertigo, Meniere’s disease, vestibular neuritis, orthostatic hypotension, medication side effects, acoustic neuroma and cerebral infarction, not simply age.

Communication difficulties, social isolation and cognitive burden begin from the mild hearing-loss stage.

· Moon Il-joonThe Sungkyunkwan University professor argued for earlier hearing-aid use and treatment.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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