Overview

• A July 2025 University of Geneva analysis of SHARE data from 33,000 Europeans pinpointed how hearing impairment and subjective loneliness combine to accelerate cognitive decline
• The team defined three social profiles—isolated and lonely, connected but lonely, and isolated yet content—to assess differing memory trajectories
• Older adults who remained socially active but still felt lonely experienced the steepest acceleration of memory loss when hearing worsened
• The study reinforced evidence that untreated hearing loss can double to triple dementia risk and that simple interventions like hearing aids can bolster engagement and slow decline
• With over a quarter of adults 60 and older affected and the WHO projecting 2.5 billion cases by 2050, researchers urge early, preventive hearing care