- Hearing loss was linked with higher Parkinson’s disease risk.
- Severity of hearing loss was tied to incident Parkinson’s in a dose-dependent way.
- Early interventions with hearing aids reduced Parkinson’s risk.
Hearing loss was linked with a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease later in life, medical records from 3.6 million U.S. military veterans showed.
Over an average of 7.6 years of follow-up, hearing loss was tied to incident Parkinson’s in a dose-dependent manner, after adjusting for competing risk of death, age, head trauma, frailty, and established prodromal disorders, reported Lee Neilson, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, and co-authors.
Ten years after a baseline audiogram, hearing loss of any severity was associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease compared with normal hearing (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.2-1.32, P), the