Understanding Dementia: Hearing Loss and Other Key Risk Factors — Part 2

What Are Other Risk Factors For Dementia?

When hearing gets hard, life often gets quieter—and not in a good way. We dig into how untreated hearing loss can push people away from conversations, fuel social isolation, and quietly increase the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. With Dr. Jill Copley, we connect the dots between mood, memory, and hearing, showing how small changes in daily habits and early audiology care can shift the trajectory of brain health.

We unpack the subtle overlap between depression and cognitive decline—why symptoms can look similar and how proper evaluation can separate them so the right treatment is used. From there, we focus on what keeps the mind resilient: real conversations that demand attention and response, activities that require planning and explanation, and lifelong learning that builds cognitive reserve. You will hear practical guidance on staying socially engaged, choosing environments that support better listening, and using hearing technology and communication strategies to reenter the flow of group life.

This is a grounded, hopeful guide to protecting brain health through better hearing. Expect actionable ideas, from scheduling a hearing evaluation to joining discussion-based groups and making daily “brain workouts” part of your routine. If you or someone you love is stepping back from social life because listening is hard, this conversation offers a clear path forward—one rooted in evidence and everyday steps you can take now.

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Transcript

Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference, where we help you experience life through better hearing. Hosted by the Experts of Total Hearing Care, a leading private audiology practice serving the DFW Metroplex, we are here to provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus, and the latest advancements in audiology. Transform your life through better hearing. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

In part two of our dementia series, we're diving deeper into the connection between hearing loss and long-term brain health and why early treatment matters. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer back in the studio with Dr. Joe Copley. Dr. Copley, how's it going today? It's going great. Thank you. How are you? I am also doing great and so glad to have you back on. Now let's continue our conversation on dementia risk factors and the role hearing loss plays. Can you pick up where you left off?

Social Isolation And Brain Decline

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yes. So in the last in the last show, we talked about some risk factors that really had to do with changes in the brain. This time we're going to talk about some other risk factors, such as depression, social isolation, and how those are risk factors as well as how they relate or can relate to hearing loss. So why don't I start with social isolation? These are going to go together. People who have hearing loss might tend to back away from conversations as their hearing loss becomes more moderate or severe, and they really have trouble hearing or they have trouble in background noise, they don't want to be out, they don't want to go to restaurants, they may not want to be around people, and they just kind of become isolated or socially isolated. And that may happen more if a person is on their own and they're not around many people. And so that can happen. And when you have untreated hearing loss, that is more likely to happen. Now, our research also shows that when you become more socially isolated, your brain is not doing as much. It's not working as hard. And when you're not your brain is not working, it tends to fall into a place where your cognition isn't doing much, and you can start to have memory issues and cognitive decline, which could lead into dementia and possibly Alzheimer's. So those all kind of go together. The other part of this is depression and anxiety, because research also shows that depression is a common risk factor for Alzheimer's and dementia. And so if you look at social isolation again, or you look at hearing loss, it all just kind of gels together. If you're socially isolated, you may be depressed. If you're depressed, you may socially isolate yourself. If you can't hear well and you're not able to join groups, you might feel depressed. And the other thing is that symptoms of depression and symptoms of cognitive decline can be very, very similar. In fact, you could be depressed because you're noticing cognitive decline. And so it's very circular and it all goes, you know, together. And it's very important when people, hopefully, people will see a mental health professional that the mental health professional and other physicians they may see really piece out. Is this depression? Is it cognitive decline? Is it dementia? Or is it both? Because treatment will be very different for depression versus cognitive decline.

Depression, Anxiety, Or Cognitive Decline

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Now let's dive in a bit deeper here, starting with social isolation. Why does social isolation in itself have such a strong connection to dementia risk?

Why Conversation Builds Cognitive Reserve

SPEAKER_01 4:30

I think a lot of that has to do with that you are not using your brain as far as communicating. Even just talking to someone like we're talking now, our brains are can, you know, they're they're communicating with each other, they're trying to figure out what to say, they're trying to figure out the questions to ask. And when your brain does that, it actually helps you and it kind of reduces that risk of dementia. So it's really that easy in a way to have educated conversations like this. And when you get socially isolated, you may not have those conversations. You may sit back and just watch TV. And we all kind of know that just watching TV or playing games on our phone are not you really using our brain in the way we need to to prevent some of these um cognitive uh changes that are occurring, as well as um what we think of as, I think you've used it before, when we talked cognitive reserves, the more you're communicating, the more you're having educated conversations that require a little more thinking, your brain develops reserves. I think of it, I I don't know why I think of it like this, but I think of it like Jeopardy. Let's say you're gonna play a game of Jeopardy. If you've studied these things, you've talked to people about these things, you've played these games, your brain has more reserves. It has more openings, if you will, to come up with the answers to those questions when it comes up. If you um have studied those things and talked to people about those things. So I guess I'm leading into another topic, education. Having uh higher levels of education can also help reduce your risk because uh you are doing more critical thinking, you're figuring out, like I deal a lot with health insurance with our patients. And so that takes a lot of thought process to work through how do we talk about benefits, how do we explain to patients how their insurance works, how do we do the claims to the insurance so we can get paid. All those kinds of things require more work with your brain. And if your brain works harder, it's going to do better. And I think when you get socially isolated or you get very depressed where you're withdrawing from the world, you're not going to get that kind of um interaction that you might otherwise.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Wow, that's really fascinating information. Did you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners today on how all of this connects together and maybe some tips that will help them on the day-to-day if it is an issue?

Education And Mental Stimulation

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Yes, so from my perspective, I look at hearing and what we can do with hearing. And so again, if we can treat the hearing loss, hopefully that will keep people from becoming as socially isolated. And while depression can be many things, you can have kind of a situational depression and anxiety. So if we can treat the hearing loss, again, maybe we keep people from having that kind of depression. But let me say this: in no way do I think that that solves all depression. There are certainly healthcare professionals that can treat depression. There's medication, there's counseling, there's therapies. Um, so I don't want to say that, but I'm just saying in a general sense, we can reduce some of the isolation, the depression, um, the signs of cognitive decline by treating the hearing loss. Because again, like I said at the beginning, they just all kind of circularly go together.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Wow. Well, you know, it certainly sounds like it does. Now, Dr. Cobley, thank you so much for continuing this very important discussion with me today. We appreciate you sharing your expertise, and we'll see everyone next time.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

I'll see you then. Thank you.

Closing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing Care Difference. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and ready to take the next step toward better hearing, call 469 809 4487 to book an appointment. Or visit totalhearingcare dot com because when you hear better, you live better. See you next time.