My Grandfather passed away with Alzheimer’s Disease several years ago, so I know how slow and painful for loved ones the disease is, as are other forms of dementia. Perhaps only slightly less saddening is the fact that some patients are diagnosed incorrectly, or more severely than they truly are.

This can be seen from just one study mentioned in an article on Audiology Online:

Almost 20 years ago, Weinstein and Amsel studied the prevalence of hearing loss in 30 institutionalized patients with the diagnosis of senile dementia and found that 83% of the sample had hearing loss that exceeded 25 dB HL, a percentage significantly higher than a comparable random sample of patients without dementia. Interestingly, 10 of the subjects, or 33%, were reclassified to a less severe category of dementia when their scores on the Mental Status Questionnaire improved through the use of an auditory trainer for amplification.

I remember one patient of ours, Judy, who’s hearing we tested at her nursing home. When we walked in to her room, she was completely unresponsive, lying in her bed, seemingly in another world. We proceeded to set up our equipment, put the headphones on her, and activated the microphone so she could hear through the amplification of our audiometer machine. Judy immediately sat up in her bed with a smile on her face and started chatting away.

In Judy’s case, I am not aware of whether she was diagnosed with any dementia or not, but it was an amazing – and immediate – transformation from complete social isolation to social butterfly as soon as she was brought back the the hearing world.

Hearing is such an important part of our cognitive and social functions, that everyone should routinely have their hearing screened, and encourage their loved one’s to do the same, especially if they have been diagnosed with any cognitive disorders.

Hearing Screening is unfortunately not a required test for dementia testing, but in my opinion is a vital test that should always be considered during that process.

To read more on this subject, you can visit our article “Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease Closely Related“