A RECENT study revealed that hearing loss contributes to the risk of getting dementia, the head of a Gloucestershire deafness charity has weighed in with her thoughts.

A study published last Thursday by The Lancet - an independent general medical journal – showed that hearing loss is the top contributing factor to the risk of dementia.

Gloucestershire Deaf Association’s chief executive Jenny Hopkins says that it is important that the impact of deafness is taken seriously.

"We knew from reading studies from around the world into deafness and dementia, that medical scientists have long suspected a link, but for those of us who are deaf or hard of hearing ourselves, seeing the statistics set out like this still comes as shock,” she said.

“Many people accept a gradual loss of hearing as a very normal part of ageing, but this shows how important it is to take the impact of deafness very seriously.

“It isn’t just about being diagnosed and then prescribed hearing aids.

“There is a huge amount you can do to alleviate the challenges of deafness through equipment and communications support and GDA already helps more than 4,000 people every year in Gloucestershire.

“Particularly as we have also heard that the retirement age is going up to 68 years.

“One in three people over the age of 65 have some level of hearing impairment and 41 percent of people who retire early cite deafness as the reason.

“Employees at every level within an organisation can be affected by deafness and need to know how to adjust the working environment for this.”

There are other factors which have been found to contribute to the risk of dementia.

These include: Failing to complete secondary education, smoking, not seeing early treatment for depression, physical inactivity, social isolation and high blood pressure.

All of these factors fall into a category called ‘potentially modifiable’ and add up to 35 per cent onto the risk.

GDA runs a number of services and support that have the sole aim of alleviating isolation and loneliness, including lip-reading classes, hard of hearing clubs and a twice-a-year Friendship Circle.

In addition, GDA offers online and face-to-face deaf awareness training packages to help businesses make services more accessible to people living with a hearing loss.

For more information on GDA visit www.gda.org.uk