![\"looking-for-a-friend-bear\"](\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/looking-for-a-friend-bear-165263.jpg\" "\\"hearing")
<\/p>\nMany people around the world are suffering from loneliness and isolation after weeks of following stay-at-home orders. There is another condition besides COVID-19 contributing to these feelings, however, and it affects one in five people: hearing loss.<\/p>\n
Hearing loss makes connecting with others difficult. Because of this, many people with the condition lose interest in their hobbies, opting to stay home rather than go out and risk feeling uncomfortable when they can\u2019t follow the conversation. Unfortunately, this can have devastating impacts. One Dutch study estimates that every decibel drop in hearing ability increases odds of becoming severely lonely by seven percent in people under 70.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Loneliness is now considered as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day<\/a>, and is linked to a number of negative health conditions, including high blood pressure, elevated stress hormones, weakened immune system and depression. In addition, social isolation raises the risk of dementia by 40 percent and the odds of early death by 26 percent.<\/p>\n Hearing loss<\/a> itself was found in a study published in Jama Otolaryngology \u2013 Head and Neck Surgery<\/em><\/a> to increase the risk of dementia by 50 percent, depression by 40 percent and falls by 30 percent over a 10-year period.<\/p>\n \u201cHearing loss is really linked with loneliness,\u201d said Frank Lin, director of Johns Hopkins’ Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health. Currently, Lin\u2019s research team is seeking to determine whether hearing treatment can prevent or slow the rate of cognitive decline, as well as what impact hearing treatment has on feelings of loneliness. The trial is expected to be completed in 2022.<\/p>\nConnection Between Loneliness and Cognitive Decline<\/h2>\n