I’ve had chronic tinnitus for a long time. I seem to be able to tolerate it, and it doesn’t keep me from sleeping. It’s biggest effect is on my hearing. I don’t feel like my ability to hear is markedly diminished, but the interference from tinnitus makes it necessary for me to focus on the person speaking. My wife and I go around about this with some frequency. She’ll just start talking to me without getting my attention, and I’ve missed the first sentence or two. She’ll say, “I TOLD you that yesterday.” I reply, “Did I acknowledge in any way?” “Did you get my attention?” That, to bring me to the topic I’m raising.

Saturday, I was out at Frontier Park. We have begun the process of preparing for Frontier Days 2023. I’m talking to two men that I respect about hearing. One, a retired Air Force colonel, brings up a connection between tinnitus and “Alzheimer’s.” He and the other guy both advocate for hearing aids to address tinnitus, AND seem to think that could be important to preventing cognitive decline.

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve talked to a doctor about my hearing. I don’t recall any raising an issue with cognitive decline. I had a hearing test once and the audiologist lobbied me for hearing aids, but I distinctly remember that she never made any connection to dementia or Alzheimer’s, and she couldn’t even promise that they would help with the tinnitus. I said, no.

I did a little research and there doesn’t appear to be solid evidence that (1) tinnitus can be addressed with hearing aids, and (2) that there’s solid evidence that tinnitus and cognitive decline is connected.

Have any of you talked to your doctor about these two things? Are you a physician and do you have an opinion? Personal experience?

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Tinnitus and Dementia

Not a Dr, however I do google, and searching the above there are many articles that point to an increasing number of folks that see a correlation between the two.

General observation is that those with Tinnitus and/or hearing problems tend to withdraw from human contact, since hearing is problematic and either they refuse to get assistance in a remedy ala hearing aids. This may lead to dementia though the lack of interaction for people aging with hearing disorders...

Since you state you and your wife have to have a specific method for communication with you, and that there is an underlying hearing problem you have, then get a new opinion, see if hearing aids help.


This article is one of many that outline the issues with Tinnitus and cognitive decline.
Link

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Originally posted by HRK:
General observation is that those with Tinnitus and/or hearing problems tend to withdraw from human contact, since hearing is problematic and either they refuse to get assistance in a remedy ala hearing aids. This may lead to dementia though the lack of interaction for people aging with hearing disorders...

This ^^^^^ is probably the relationship.

From what I've read over the years ISTM the ways to prevent the onset of dementia are:

• Maintain general good health
  
• Keep your mind engaged

"Maintain general good health" means eat well, be fit, and be physically active.

"Keep your mind engaged" means keep constantly learning new things and have an active social life.

IOW: Pretty much the opposite of the directions most people seem to be headed these days.

I have tinnitus, btw. Sounds like about the same as TMats: It's there, but, I usually don't notice it unless I notice it--if that makes any sense. I also have hearing aids. They don't reduce the tinnitus, but, they do make it easier to hear frequencies the tinnitus would otherwise drown-out.

I've seen a few articles saying there may be a connection, but it doesn't seem logical to me. Tinnitus is caused by brain cells in the hearing center self-activating because they are unhappy about a lack of stimulus from the ear.

Dementia is brain cells dying or becoming inactivated, which would be completely different mechanisms than tinnitus. There may be a large amount of correlation since hearing problems and dementia are problems in old age.

I've had tinnitus for about a decade as a result of an adverse Rx medication reaction. Something that was in the literature but which my doc was completely unaware of. The tinnitus interferes with real sounds. A hearing aid might help if tuned to boost frequencies in the upper mid range where speech intelligibility resides. I've read that some people find it unnatural sounding though.

There's a lot more of it within the past two years...

The COVID vaccine causes tinnitus and many other adverse events: there is no doubt about this.
The CDC is lying to the American people.

https://stevekirsch.substack.c...cine-causes-tinnitus

I've had medically diagnosed tinnitus for decades however it's due to years of logging, working in a dental lab, off road vehicles and of course shooting.

Alzheimer's or dementia does not run in the family on either parent's side and no relative that I can recall has ever had it. They all die from drinking, smoking and old age.

So I can accept there's a correlation but causation is still iffy, IMO.

Hearing aids did not help my tinnitus.

My doctor told me that over time there can be a cognitive loss as it relates to understanding speech when your hearing loss is pretty far along - but that's nothing like dementia.

Mother has Dementia and perfect hearing, Father has jet engine ears and still has his wits. I have some hearing loss and off and on tinnitus. Some background noise eliminates the tinnitus. On the other hand background noise, running water for example, makes it impossible for me to hear my wife speaking. My water bill is horrendous.

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Originally posted by tjcj:
Mother has Dementia and perfect hearing, Father has jet engine ears and still has his wits. I have some hearing loss and off and on tinnitus. Some background noise eliminates the tinnitus. On the other hand background noise, running water for example, makes it impossible for me to hear my wife speaking. My water bill is horrendous.

Nice ! Ha !!

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Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
My doctor told me that over time there can be a cognitive loss as it relates to understanding speech when your hearing loss is pretty far along - but that's nothing like dementia.

That sounds more reasonable, and thus more believable. Consider too the sources - audiologists and related organizations, that sort of thing.

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Originally posted by ulsterman:
Hearing aids did not help my tinnitus.

Yep. Same here. Nothing about how a hearing aid works can be used to mitigate tinnitus. It would be nice if someone can find a cure for it.

My dad had Alzheimers and my older sister is showing signs of it.

Only a data point, but I'll share it. My dad got tinnitus between 25 and 30 years ago. He has definitely lost a great deal of his cognitive abilities even 10 years ago, but I wouldn't say he has Alzheimer's. He is also 92. So I would expect such. He does use hearing aids, but poorly. They're off. The battery is dead. They're turned up to 11 and feeding back.

I would imagine that if there is a connection, that they are very much just that -- connected. And not that Alzheimer's is in any way caused by hearing loss or preventable by hearing aids.

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Originally posted by Rey HRH:

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Originally posted by ulsterman:
Hearing aids did not help my tinnitus.

Yep. Same here.

And here. While it isn't as noticeable while the hearing aids are in, likely because you're now hearing all the things you didn't before and thus not paying attention to the tinnitus, it's still there.

One hypothesis is that the brain doesn't like true quiet. When the ear is damaged, some frequencies send no signal to the brain, so the associated brain cells rebel and self-actuate. This is tinnitus.

It may be possible to reduce tinnitus by having loud enough sound to send a weak signal to the brain. A hearing aid might accomplish this. Were good hearing aids inexpensive I would try it.

I occasionally have a period of hours with no tinnitus. Maybe even a whole day. It might be related to sound stimulation, e.g. wearing earbuds for a few hours listening to music. There seems to be a correlation though not 100%.

Caffeine and chocolate make it worse, and perhaps red wine. My life is too decadent to give those up yet.

If you stand close enough, you can hear my ears ringing and... I'm not really fond of people.

I guess I'm DOOMED...

It seems apparent from the responses that IF there were a connection between tinnitus and cognitive decline that hearing aids would not prevent, or slow, the decline—even IF they markedly improved the tinnitus. I’ll admit that the response that resonated with me most was ensigmatic’s, and I think I work pretty hard to maintain both physical and mental health.

Thanks to all who have responded. As you are all aware, sometimes the biggest value in being a member of SigForum is the availability of a sounding board to get input on things you’re pondering.

Is it the tinnitus or the things that caused the tinnitus? If your ears were getting blasted with sound/shock waves, your brain was too.

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Originally posted by cas:
Is it the tinnitus or the things that caused the tinnitus? If your ears were getting blasted with sound/shock waves, your brain was too.

Good point. My daughter had bought me a type of ear filter plugs, to help protect my ears at live music events. I keep them in the drawer of my nightstand, and I kept forgetting the damn things when I went to shows. I’m finally remembering them now, but in just the last couple years, found myself hurting from the speaker columns. When I saw The Steel Woods, I had rolled up pieces of a bar napkin in my ears. Probably, in my case, amplified sound, more than gunfire. I imagine, however, I’m not the only one who has pulled a trigger, forgetting to put my “ears” on.