For how we live.
Observational studies tie hearing loss to faster mental decline. But the first large randomised trial found no overall benefit from hearing aids over three years — with a signal of help only in higher-risk older adults.
Cataract surgery was tied to 29% lower dementia risk in a strong cohort. But the largest hearing-aid trial found no overall effect on cognition. The signal is real; the proof that fixing senses prevents dementia is not.
Linking exome data to electronic medical records solved 15% of unexplained hearing-loss cases and flagged new candidate genes — while showing what the records could not supply.
OSHA and NIOSH use different rules for how fast allowable exposure falls as sound gets louder. WHO's venue standard permits an average of 100 decibels. The headline 'one billion at risk' figure is a modelled range.
A decade of eardrum repair delivered on Country across nine Queensland communities produced closure rates below metropolitan benchmarks — and a follow-up rate most urban surgical services do not achieve.
It found no meaningful difference at six weeks. It enrolled 64 people, tested one device, and ran for six weeks. That is the entire head-to-head evidence base three years after the category opened.
ACHIEVE randomised 977 older adults and measured three-year cognitive change. The difference between hearing aids and health education was 0.002 SD units, p=0.96. One subgroup result is doing a lot of work.
A standing commission estimates that eliminating 14 risk factors could prevent or delay 45% of dementia across a whole population. What that number means for one person is a different and much weaker claim.
In the FDA study, self-fitted AirPods matched a professional fitting for perceived benefit. Independent testing finds the hearing test accurate to about 10 dB — and the amplification short of a fitted aid.