Millions of people around the world live with hearing loss, and many also face other long-term health conditions.
Scientists have long known that untreated hearing loss is linked to a higher risk of dementia.
However, an important question remains: can treating hearing loss with hearing aids actually help protect the brain?
A new study presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2026 suggests the answer may depend on the person’s underlying medical condition.
Researchers from University Hospital Zurich and the University of Liverpool found that hearing aids were linked to a lower risk of dementia in adults who had both epilepsy and hearing loss. Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes repeated seizures.
Some people with epilepsy also experience problems with memory, thinking, and concentration over time.
Because epilepsy already places extra stress on the brain, researchers wondered whether improving hearing could reduce one additional burden. To investigate this, the team analyzed electronic health records from more than 250 million people stored in the TriNetX medical database.
They compared adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids with similar adults who did not. The researchers also examined several groups already known to have a higher risk of dementia, including people with stroke, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, migraine, osteoarthritis, and epilepsy.
Surprisingly, hearing aid use was not linked to a lower dementia risk in the overall hearing-loss population or in most of the medical conditions studied. The clear exception was epilepsy. Among people with both epilepsy and hearing loss, those who used hearing aids had a 23% lower risk of developing dementia during the following five years.
This translated to about one fewer case of dementia for every 37 people using hearing aids. The researchers believe this finding may be explained by something called cognitive reserve, which is the brain’s ability to keep functioning despite aging or disease.
People with epilepsy may already have reduced cognitive reserve, so correcting hearing loss could remove one extra challenge for the brain. The researchers also noted that some forms of epilepsy affect brain regions involved in hearing, while certain anti-seizure medicines may worsen hearing problems, making hearing correction even more important.
The findings also highlight a practical opportunity. People with epilepsy usually attend regular medical appointments, making hearing screening relatively easy to include as part of routine care. Detecting hearing loss early and providing hearing aids when appropriate could improve communication, social interaction, mood, and possibly long-term brain health.
The researchers emphasized that this study cannot prove hearing aids directly prevent dementia because it was observational. Other factors may have influenced the results. Larger prospective clinical studies will be needed to confirm whether hearing aids truly reduce dementia risk in epilepsy.
Overall, this study provides encouraging evidence that treating hearing loss may offer unique benefits for people living with epilepsy. It also reminds us that simple interventions can sometimes make an important difference when targeted to the right patients.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about dietary strategies to ward off dementia, and how omega-3 fatty acids fuel your mind.
For more health information, please see recent studies about Choline deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and what to eat (and avoid) for dementia prevention.
Source: University Hospital Zurich and University of Liverpool.
