ORANGE PARK—It was already well known that hearing loss is associated with a reduced life span. What was unknown before a recent study's publication was whether wearing hearing aids regularly, thereby reducing hearing loss, would reverse that downtrend. 

Janet Choi, MD, a researcher at the University of Southern California, said it does. 

Born with hearing loss in her left ear, Choi reasoned wearing hearing aids would reduce the comorbidity factors resulting from hearing loss: social isolation, depression and dementia. 

“We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24% lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them,” Choi said in a press release. 

“These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people’s health and prevent early death," she said. 

The longitudinal study was published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity and can also be found in the National Library of Medicine at pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38183998/.

The study's findings were a boom in audiology. Figuratively, the ripple traveled from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, from one end of I-10 to the other.  

Matt Jones, Vice President of Beltone Florida, "heard" the good news about hearing. Jones is a hearing care practitioner at Beltone Hearing Care Centers Orange Park, located at 1536 Kingsley Ave., Suite 124. 

Jones said hearing loss is more than an inconvenience. It is a severe condition that can and should be treated, he said. 

"Our brain is like any other muscle. If it’s stimulated, it retains its functioning. If it's not stimulated, it atrophies. Hearing stimulates the brain. Hearing loss leads to loss of cognitive function," Jones said. 

Consider the mantra "use it or lose it." Still, despite his concern, Jones is hopeful thanks to Choi's publicized results and other recent and positive health trends. 

"Hearing aids are more accessible and accepted. There's a lot more inclination to accept hearing aids as a form of treatment and greater societal acceptance to wearing them," Jones said.