What is the Relationship Between Hearing Loss and Alzheimer ' s Disease?

Age-related hearing loss correlates with the risk of onset and progression of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. There is some question as to whether this correlation exists because similar processes of neurodegeneration produce both outcomes, or whether one drives the other, or whether there is a bidirectional relationship. It seems plausible that reduced sensory input can accelerate decline of neural networks that run on a "use it or lose it" basis, though current thinking is also focused on reduced quality of sensory input causing functional issues in neural processing. Either way, the question remains as to whether that can account for a meaningful fraction of the loss of cognitive function and related issues, versus other more blunt mechanisms, such as the chronic inflammation in brain tissue that is characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. Evidence suggests that hearing loss (HL), even at mild levels, increases the long-term risk of cognitive decline and incident dementia. Hearing loss is one of the modifiable risk factors for dementia, with approximately 4 million of the 50 million cases of dementia worldwide possibly attributed to untreated HL. This paper describes four possible mechanisms that have been suggested for the relationship between age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is the most common form of dementia. The first mechanism suggests mitochondrial dysfunction and altered signal pathwa...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs