When it comes to addressing hearing health, understanding your insurance coverage is crucial. For many of our patients at AVI New England, especially those with Aetna insurance, a common concern is whether their plan covers hearing aids and related hearing care services.
Given the variety of plans and coverage options Aetna offers, the answer can vary, making personalized guidance essential.
It’s not news that hearing loss is connected to other mental and physical conditions, but many people don’t realize how much of an effect their untreated hearing loss has on the rest of their body until it’s too late.
Something that many people—and we!—are most concerned about is how untreated hearing loss can cause cognitive decline, meaning the loss of many mental capacities to do with learning, memory, and reasoning.
If you’re reading this, chances are that you may have a hearing loss challenge you’re concerned about, and you’re doing your research into what else hearing loss could change.
Good news: the simplest way to avoid cognitive decline from untreated hearing loss… is to treat it. Shockingly easy, we know! With the help of comprehensive hearing assessments, hearing healthcare and, where applicable, hearing assistive technology, you’ll help not just your ears, but your entire body.
How Can Hearing Care Help Me Avoid Cognitive Decline?
In December of 2022, a study came out that shared the findings of a very in-depth study that connected untreated hearing loss and cognitive decline.
Conducted by Brian Sheng Yep Yeo, MBBS; Harris Jun Jie Muhammad Danial Song, MBBS; and Emma Min Shuen Toh, MBBS, of JAMA Neurology, this worldwide trial sought to investigate the correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline across 137,484 participants.
Their findings were astonishing—and still relevant today.
They found that the use of hearing aids was associated with a 19 percent reduction in long-term cognitive decline. Even patients who began the study with mild cognitive impairment benefited from hearing aids, as their use helped lower the risk of progressing to dementia by 20 percent.
A quote from the study itself caught my eye about hearing aids—“physicians should strongly encourage their patients with hearing loss to adopt such devices.”
So, what does that mean for you?
If you’re concerned about your hearing, the best and quickest way to get a handle on what range of hearing you’re working with is through a comprehensive hearing assessment. By testing your hearing and exploring next steps, you can witness the difference that professional hearing care could make for you and your ears.
For anything related to hearing care, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help!
Concerned About Your Hearing?
If you’re concerned about your own hearing, or that of a loved one, don’t delay—people sometimes wait up to seven years before addressing a hearing loss challenge, meaning it only gets worse and starts to affect the rest of your body.
If you’re hesitating due to questions or concerns about hearing care, or you’d like the advice of an expert to guide you, we’re here to help.
Please feel free to request a callback and we’ll contact you with the answers and advice you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can call our office at (475) 227-0842.
