Hearing loss and loneliness can accelerate cognitive decline in older adults study finds
Researchers from the University of Geneva in Switzerland wanted to investigate how social isolation and perceived loneliness can affect cognitive function and memory.
Published in Communications Psychology, the researchers analysed data from more than 33,000 adults over age 50 across 12 countries.
Participants were surveyed every two years about daily lives, including usual activities, social connections, and perceptions, before undertaking tests on cognitive functions like episodic memory.
The researchers identified three distinct profiles: people who are socially isolated and feel lonely, people who are not socially isolated but still feel lonely, and people who are socially isolated but do not feel lonely.
They then investigated whether each profile had a different trajectory of reduced cognitive function, finding those with hearing impairments who felt lonely experienced faster cognitive decline — regardless of their level of social isolation.
That combination of perceived loneliness and hearing impairment could put people at two to three times' the risk of such decline.
''We found that people who were not socially isolated but who felt lonely saw their cognitive decline accelerate when they were deaf,'' co-author and university professor Matthias Kliegel said.
With about 30 per cent of people over 60 having hearing loss, the findings underscore the importance of addressing the social and emotional aspects of hearing loss as well as its physical elements.
The World Health Organization estimates almost 2.5 billion people will have some form of hearing loss by 2050, 700 million of whom will require hearing rehabilitation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Aid groups warn of starving children as European powers discuss Gaza
Aid groups warned of surging numbers of malnourished children in war-ravaged Gaza as a trio of European powers prepared to hold an "emergency call" Friday on the deepening humanitarian crisis. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that a quarter of the young children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers it had screened at its clinics last week were malnourished, a day after the United Nations said one in five children in Gaza City were suffering from malnutrition. With fears of mass starvation growing, Britain, France and Germany were set to hold an emergency call to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and discuss steps towards Palestinian statehood. "I will hold an emergency call with E3 partners tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. The call comes after hopes of a new ceasefire in Gaza faded on Thursday when Israel and the United States quit indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar. US envoy Steve Witkoff accused the Palestinian militant group of not "acting in good faith". President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France would formally recognise a Palestinian state in September, drawing a furious rebuke from Israel. - 'Mass starvation' - More than 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza. Israel has rejected accusations it is responsible for the deepening crisis, which the World Health Organization has called "man-made". Israel placed the Gaza Strip under an aid blockade in March, which it only partially eased two months later. The trickle of aid since then has been controlled by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, replacing the longstanding UN-led distribution system. Aid groups have refused to work with it, accusing it of aiding Israeli military goals. The GHF system, in which Gazans have to travel long distances and join huge queues to reach one of four sites, has often proved deadly, with the UN saying that more than 750 Palestinian aid-seekers have been killed by Israeli forces near GHF centres since late May. An AFP photographer saw bloodied patients, wounded while attempting to get humanitarian aid, being treated on the floor of Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis on Thursday. Israel has refused to return to the UN-led system, saying that it allowed Hamas to hijack aid for its own benefit. Accusing Israel of the "weaponisation of food", MSF said that: "Across screenings of children aged six months to five years old and pregnant and breastfeeding women, at MSF facilities last week, 25 per cent were malnourished." It said malnutrition cases had quadrupled since May 18 at its Gaza City clinic and that the facility was enrolling 25 new patients every day. Aid groups and medics have also warned that a lack of food is preventing the sick and wounded from recovering. - 'High risk of dying' - On Thursday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that one in five children in Gaza City were malnourished. Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said: "Most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need." He also warned that "UNRWA frontline health workers, are surviving on one small meal a day, often just lentils, if at all". Lazzarini said that the agency had "the equivalent of 6,000 loaded trucks of food and medical supplies" ready to send into Gaza if Israel allowed "unrestricted and uninterrupted" access to the territory. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,587 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
7NEWS
6 days ago
- 7NEWS
Class action looms over Blackmores after vitamin B6 toxicity causes ‘tragic' injuries to expecting father
A young father left with devastating injuries is at the centre of a looming class action against a popular Australian health supplement company. Dominic Noonan-O'Keeffe says he was taking multiple over-the-counter Blackmores supplements, to bolster his health before becoming a father. But one magnesium product he was taking contained 29 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6 — making it toxic to his body, according to Polaris Lawyers. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Class action on the cards for popular health supplement company. The Melbourne law firm's founder and principal Nick Mann said he is aware of hundreds of Australians reporting lasting injuries from B6 consumed through over-the-counter supplements. While B6 is an essential vitamin for the brain, nervous system, immune system, hormonal regulation and metabolism, and can be found naturally in food — too much is toxic. It can leave those who consume unsafe amounts with nerve damage, migraines, heart spasms, and sensations of burning or numbness across the body. For Noonan-O'Keeffe, 'significant fatigue, excruciating headaches and hypersensitivity to his environment' began in August 2023, three months after he began taking Blackmores supplements. 'His symptoms escalated, with Dominic experiencing muscle spasms, neuralgia, heart palpitations, visual disturbances and loss of sensation across his body,' Polaris Lawyers said. 'Dominic was left unable to concentrate, struggling to sleep, constantly in pain and even at times found it difficult walking. His medical team would go on to identify neuropathy caused by excessive B6 levels in the Blackmores supplements.' Such symptoms of B6 toxicity are widely reported, but the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said that 'many people are not aware' of them, in a 2022 alert to raise awareness. This alert was published by the TGA one month after it strengthened labelling requirements on products with daily doses that included over 10mg of vitamin B6. Noonan-O'Keeffe wants further changes to the way supplements are sold. In a June interim decision report discussing amendment to the Poisons Standard, the TGA could not find a consensus on the levels of B6 safe enough to totally ensure against the development of peripheral neuropathy. 'Previously, it was generally considered that high intake greater than 200mg per day taken over a long period of time was required to develop peripheral neuropathy,' TGA said. But it cited a European literature review which found supplemental doses of less than 50mg per day had caused peripheral neuropathy in some people, and there were notes of 'large inter-individual differences in sensitivity to vitamin B6 toxicity'. The TGA listed 174 reports of nerve-damage conditions as of June 4, and cited concerns of under-reporting. In its 2022 warning, the TGA said that in many cases of adverse reactions to B6 toxicity, patients 'were unaware they had consumed vitamin B6 as the product they were taking was a magnesium supplement'. Of the 32 cases of peripheral neuropathy under review at the time of the alert, 28 per cent involved 'multiple medicines containing vitamin B6, some of which did not have a label warning because they contained less than 50mg of vitamin B6.' In the class action call-out for anyone who believes they may have suffered injuries as a result of B6 toxicity, Polaris Lawyers described how Noonan-O'Keeffe 'could not have imagined the significant long term medical problems that taking the supplement would cause'. Mann said Noonan-O'Keeffe's case was 'tragic' but noted that he 'is not alone'. ''It's alarming to walk down the vitamin aisle of any chemist in Australia and see vitamin supplements containing levels of B6 which are far and above the recommended daily intake.' The TGA interim decision outlines a rescheduling of vitamin B6, so that products with daily dosages over 50mg will be classified as 'Pharmacist Only Medicines'. A Blackmores spokesperson told 'All our products, including those containing Vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the TGA 'This includes compliance with maximum permitted daily doses and the inclusion of mandated warning statements. We acknowledge the interim decision issued by the TGA, and we will ensure full compliance with its final determination.'
West Australian
6 days ago
- West Australian
Hearing loss and loneliness can accelerate cognitive decline in older adults study finds
A large-scale European study has found older adults experiencing hearing loss and loneliness could be at triple the risk of cognitive decline. Researchers from the University of Geneva in Switzerland wanted to investigate how social isolation and perceived loneliness can affect cognitive function and memory. Published in Communications Psychology, the researchers analysed data from more than 33,000 adults over age 50 across 12 countries. Participants were surveyed every two years about daily lives, including usual activities, social connections, and perceptions, before undertaking tests on cognitive functions like episodic memory. The researchers identified three distinct profiles: people who are socially isolated and feel lonely, people who are not socially isolated but still feel lonely, and people who are socially isolated but do not feel lonely. They then investigated whether each profile had a different trajectory of reduced cognitive function, finding those with hearing impairments who felt lonely experienced faster cognitive decline — regardless of their level of social isolation. That combination of perceived loneliness and hearing impairment could put people at two to three times' the risk of such decline. ''We found that people who were not socially isolated but who felt lonely saw their cognitive decline accelerate when they were deaf,'' co-author and university professor Matthias Kliegel said. With about 30 per cent of people over 60 having hearing loss, the findings underscore the importance of addressing the social and emotional aspects of hearing loss as well as its physical elements. The World Health Organization estimates almost 2.5 billion people will have some form of hearing loss by 2050, 700 million of whom will require hearing rehabilitation.
