Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri, founder of MDHearingAid and a Chicago-based board-certified ear, nose and throat physician, discusses the connection between hearing loss and the increased likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease. According to Dr. Cherukuri, people with untreated mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia within 5-10 years as the population at large. Those with untreated severe hearing loss are at five times the risk.

Hearing is a use-it-or-lose-it sense. If the brain is not stimulated by constant sound, it loses the ability to interpret those sounds and to process different types of frequencies like those used for speech recognition. That can make even everyday conversations challenging both inside and outside the home. With people working longer, hearing loss can also have an impact on job performance, earning potential and employment.

And contrary to popular belief, hearing loss is not limited to the 60+ crowd. Factors like loud music, the increased use of headphones, workplace and environmental noise, and even military service can cause permanent nerve damage in younger people.

Yet many people resist taking a hearing test to determine whether they have hearing loss, and even physicians frequently fail to follow Medicare recommendations to begin testing hearing as patients approach their 65th birthdays. Indeed, Dr. Cherukuri notes, fewer than 15% of all primary care physicians routinely perform hearing tests.

The FREE telephone-based National Hearing Test solves the problem, making it easy to take the first step toward better hearing as well as dementia/Alzheimer’s prevention. It’s the only scientifically validated telephone hearing test, and it’s available 24/7 without leaving home. Get all the details at www.latenighthealth.com/hearing-loss-and-free-testing

air date: 8/12/16