Hearing loss could pose greater risk of potential dementia in later life – study

But it is not yet clear whether hearing loss is the result of changes linked to dementia, or whether hearing loss itself could contribute to cognitive decline. It is not the first study to suggest a link between hearing loss and cognitive troubles – previous research has found that the more severe hearing loss is, the greater the risk of dementia. The study focused on people who were at risk of Alzheimer's disease, revealing that those who were diagnosed with hearing loss had a higher risk of "mild cognitive impairment" four years later. As a result, it is unclear whether treating hearing loss could mitigate against increased risk. In a separate study, researchers from Wisconsin found a link between thinking and memory difficulties, and changes to the fluency of speech.

Dementia risk reduced by eating Mediterranean diet, study confirms

GETTY Dementia diet: Mediterranean diet can prevent memory lossExperts have revealed healthy eating habits and following the Mediterranean diet can preserve cognitive function, protecting the way the brain works. GETTY Dementia diet: Mediterranean diet can prevent memory lossWe're starting to see evidence that this diet can not only help maintain memory, but also reduce the risk of dementia. GETTY Dementia diet: Eating healthily can boost heart health and reduce dementia riskA group of US scientists looked analysed nearly 6,000 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study. "We're starting to see evidence that this diet can not only help maintain memory, but also reduce the risk of dementia. Scientists have said the diet can also reduce the risk of dementia.


Chan School of Public Health finds that improving the quality of diet over time, even with modest changes, may significantly reduce the risk of premature death. In contrast, worsening diet quality was linked to a 6 to 12 percent increase in the risk of death. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish or n-3 fatty acids appeared to contribute most to an improvement in diet quality. "Overall, our findings underscore the benefits of healthy eating patterns including the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. Each model assigns scores to various types of food, with healthier foods receiving higher scores and less healthy foods receiving lower scores.


collected by :Lucy William