Effective use of hearing aids may help reduce dementia risk in older adults

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

The University of Hong Kong

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The study led by Professor Chen Shanquan finds that effective use of hearing aids may help reduce dementia risk in older adults.

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Credit: The University of Hong Kong

The School of Public Health at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), together with a multinational team, has found that the effective use of hearing aids is associated with a lower risk of probable dementia among older adults with hearing loss. The findings highlight the importance of quality hearing rehabilitation for healthy ageing and were published in Cell Reports Medicine [link to the publication].

Dementia is projected to affect 150 million people worldwide by 2050, placing a significant burden on healthcare systems and societies. Hearing loss, a common condition affecting approximately 30% of people over 65 and up to 90% of those aged 85 and older, has emerged as one of the most important potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia.

According to the 2024 Lancet Commission, hearing loss accounts for approximately 7% of dementia cases, making it a leading modifiable risk factor. Professor Chen Shanquan, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health, HKUMed, and joint last author of the study, said, ‘While hearing aids are widely regarded as the standard first-line treatment for adult hearing loss, their role in preventing cognitive decline has remained uncertain.’

Effective hearing aids linked to 14% lower dementia risk
The study analysed data from 61,089 hearing-impaired adults aged 55 and older, drawn from seven ageing cohorts across 33 countries, including China, Korea, Europe, the UK, the US, Ireland and Mexico. Over an average follow-up period of 6.5 years, 8,911 participants developed probable dementia.

The study found that hearing aid users had a 9% lower risk of probable dementia compared to hearing-impaired non-users. Importantly, the benefit appeared to depend on the effectiveness of the devices. Participants who reported good hearing improvement with hearing aids had a 14% lower risk of probable dementia, whereas those who reported poor hearing improvement showed no significant reduction in risk.

The association appeared stronger in middle-income countries, where hearing aid adoption was substantially lower. Only 2.6% of hearing-impaired participants in these countries reported using a hearing aid, compared with 20% in high-income countries. Together, these findings suggest that improving both access to hearing aids and the quality of hearing rehabilitation should be key public health priorities.

Prioritising hearing care for at-risk groups
The study also found that the association between hearing aid use and lower dementia risk was more pronounced among women, unmarried individuals and those with lower educational attainment. This suggests that hearing rehabilitation may be particularly important for socially vulnerable groups, who may face a higher risk of isolation or reduced access to health resources.

Building on these findings, the researchers have called for future research using objective hearing assessments, real-world device-use data, and more representative samples from low-resource settings. They also recommend that hearing care should be better integrated into dementia prevention, primary care, and healthy-ageing strategies.

The researchers emphasised that the study was observational and cannot prove that hearing aids directly prevent dementia. Nevertheless, the results provide large-scale, multi-country evidence that effective hearing rehabilitation may be linked to better cognitive ageing outcomes.

Bridging gaps in hearing care across regions
Professor Chen Shanquan said, ‘Hearing loss is increasingly recognised as one of the most important risk factors for dementia that can potentially be addressed. Our study suggests that the benefit is not simply about wearing a device, but whether the device meaningfully improves hearing in daily life.’

‘These findings have important implications for healthy ageing policies,’ Professor Chen added. In high-income settings, the priority may be on fitting improvement, follow-up care and the long-term effectiveness of hearing aids. In middle-income settings, however, expanding affordable access to hearing care remains a major challenge.’  

Less than 10% of Americans eat the minimum recommended amount of fiber

 Fiber is well known to be an important part of a healthy diet, yet less than 10% of Americans eat the minimum recommended amount. A new study from Stanford Medicine might finally convince us to fill our plates with beans, nuts, cruciferous veggies, avocados and other fiber-rich foods. The research, which will be published in Nature Metabolism on Jan. 9 identified the direct epigenetic effects of two common byproducts of fiber digestion and found that some of the alterations in gene expression had anti-cancer actions.

When we eat fiber, the gut microbiome produces short-chain fatty acids. These compounds are more than just an energy source for us: They have long been suspected to indirectly affect gene function. The researchers traced how the two most common short-chain fatty acids in our gut, propionate and butyrate, altered gene expression in healthy human cells, in treated and untreated human colon cancer cells, and in mouse intestines. They found direct epigenetic changes at specific genes that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation, along with apoptosis, or pre-programmed cell death processes — all of which are important for disrupting or controlling the unchecked cell growth that underlies cancer.

“We found a direct link between eating fiber and modulation of gene function that has anti-cancer effects, and we think this is likely a global mechanism because the short-chain fatty acids that result from fiber digestion can travel all over the body,” said Michael Snyder, PhD, Stanford W. Ascherman, MD, FACS Professor in Genetics. “It is generally the case that people’s diet is very fiber poor, and that means their microbiome is not being fed properly and cannot make as many short-chain fatty acids as it should. This is not doing our health any favors.”

Given the worrying rates of colon cancer in younger adults, the study findings could also spur conversation and research about the possible synergistic effects of diet and cancer treatment.

“By identifying the gene targets of these important molecules we can understand how fiber exerts its beneficial effects and what goes wrong during cancer,” Snyder added.

 

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Journal

Nature Metabolism

DOI

10.1038/s42255-024-01191-9 

Four minutes of daily resistance training can quadruple fitness in older adults

 

 Just four minutes of daily strengthening exercise dramatically increases key factors in quality of life for aging adults, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. Results published in PLOS One showed that strength — which impacts fall risk, longevity, independent living and more — significantly improved for adults aged 65 and older in as little as 12 weeks.

Mobility, or physical fitness, is a critical indicator of quality of life for adults ages 65 and above, allowing for completion of daily tasks and movement. Unintentional injuries such as tripping or falling are among the top leading causes of death among adults ages 65 and over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A lack of physical fitness in aging persists because people believe that they can only reap the benefits of exercise with more extensive resistance training workouts — but that’s not the case, according to lead author Christopher Sciamanna, professor of medicine and of public health at Penn State College of Medicine. He said a short four-minute workout is enough to improve upon several factors of critical mobility indicators.

“The human body is designed to improve very quickly,” Sciamanna said. “And just a few repetitions of an exercise performed regularly can lead to huge improvements. Exercise is about forward thinking — think about what you want to be able to do and train for it.”

While resistance training can greatly increase strength in just a few months, less than one in five older adults exercise for the recommended two days per week of muscle-strengthening activity, partially due to routine length, pain and other limitations.

“Exercise is actually really complicated, because you have to decide how many repetitions, how far, how many sets, how much rest and how many times per week,” said co-author Smita Dandekar, associate professor of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine. “It's hard work, so there's huge problems with people wanting to do exercise. If we can make it short, we’re part way there.”

Previously, the team had conducted a study called FAST (Functional Activity Strength Training)-1, a smaller scale experiment where 24 older adults performed 30 seconds of push-ups and squats daily, resulting in improved squat performance over six months. Other studies have also shown that a few sets of exercise per week can lead to nearly the same improvements as longer-length routines. Building off of those findings, Sciamanna’s team decided to test the efficacy of a shorter routine.

In the current study, researchers from Penn Statue tested the effects of a program, called FAST-2, to see if it improved mobility and physical capability in adults older than 65. A total of 97 participants with an average age of 74 years old were randomly assigned to receive either the exercise regimen treatment or no intervention. Prior to the study, participants reported performing an average of about 18 minutes of total exercise each week, which is much lower than the recommended amount of at least 150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes vigorous exercise for adults, Sciamanna explained.

The FAST-2 program included four exercises: push-ups, chair stands, two-arm rows and stair stepping. Participants performed each movement for 30 seconds followed by a 30-second rest. Participants received four elastic resistance bands and a stepper with an adjustable height. Written explanations and modifications were provided for the exercises, such as performing pushups with hands on a countertop or wall, or chair stands with hands on the knees.

As participants improved, they were encouraged to progress to higher levels of difficulty, like performing the original version of the exercise if they were doing a modified version or increasing step height on the stepper. To measure participants’ progress, the researchers assessed the participants’ ability and speed at standing up and ability to stand on one leg at the beginning, middle and end of the study.

The tests mimic the movements required in everyday activities, making them useful predictors of potential risks and future need for care, the researchers said.

The authors found that this exercise regimen, which included only 60 seconds of lower body resistance training, was enough to give significant improvements in functional performance: 4.2 more repetitions in a 30 second chair stand, 3.6 more seconds in one-legged stand time and a decrease of 2.3 seconds in sit-to-stand time. These changes point to related improvements in daily life fitness, such as standing up from a chair, climbing stairs and walking, Sciamanna explained.

“These indicators predict your future ability to go into a nursing home, your future likelihood of falling and of developing difficulty walking,” Sciamanna said. “They give you a sense of whether or not you're going to be able to be active in the future.”

One of the additional benefits of a shorter program like FAST-2, Sciamanna explained, is a higher chance that people will stick to the routine. Participants completed the exercise on 81% of days during the study period, demonstrating that the program can fit into days even with time constraints or other concerns that may keep people from continuing an exercise program, even though it could lead to improvements in everyday life.

The findings are a promising indication that resistance training regimens do not have to be long to make a big difference in strength, mobility and quality of life, Sciamanna explained.

“Exercise is the key to freedom,” he said. “Freedom is the ability to be able to do what you want to do, and I would say that if you can't do what you want to do, you're not free. I approach exercise by thinking of what I want to be able to do in 20 years, and then I train to do that.”

Pregnant women may reduce key health risk through less sitting, more light exercise

Women who engage in light physical activity and lessen their sedentary time may significantly reduce the risk of key health problems during pregnancy, according to a new University of Iowa-led study.

Researchers examined the daily behaviors of 470 pregnant women across all stages of pregnancy. Each participant wore a monitor that measured physical activity in 24-hour cycles and another monitor that recorded the time they spent asleep.

Based on observational data collected from the study’s participants, the researchers propose a “Goldilocks Day”-like guide for pregnant women that could reduce by nearly 30% the risk of developing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), commonly occurring complications of pregnancy that include chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia.

Those recommendations are:

• Reduce sedentary time to fewer than eight hours each day.

• Engage in light physical activity for at least seven hours each day.

• Engage in approximately 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, such as a brisk walk, each day.

• Get nearly nine hours of sleep each night.

Sedentary behavior is defined as being mostly inactive, such as sitting or lying down. Light physical activity can include myriad options, such as taking a casual walk, moving around the home, or simply standing. 

“We are identifying the optimal composition of movement behaviors across the day associated with the lowest risk of developing HDP and the most improved health outcomes,” says Kara Whitaker, associate professor in the Department of Health, Sport, and Human Physiology at Iowa and the study’s corresponding author. “This blueprint holds for each and every trimester of pregnancy.”

Study participants were enrolled at study sites in Iowa City, Iowa; Pittsburgh; and Morgantown, West Virginia. The women, 4 in 5 of whom were non-Hispanic white and nearly a quarter of whom were rural residents, wore the activity and sleep monitors for at least a week during each trimester of pregnancy.

The data showed a steep increase in HDP risk for pregnant women who were sedentary for more than 10 hours per day. Conversely, pregnant women who upped their light physical activity to at least four hours per day reduced their HDP risk to 15% from 30%.

“Just moving around more seems to have significant health benefits,” Whitaker says, “and I think it also may be a more feasible target for women who are pregnant who are not exercising regularly.”

The researchers were surprised to find out that participants who engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity showed no appreciable benefit from longer durations, while sleep beyond a certain duration also yielded no major benefits.

“Through this study, we are providing evidence that reducing sedentary behavior and engaging in light physical activity are important, and maybe more important, when it comes to pregnancy and health,” Whitaker says.

Knowing which mix of behaviors has the greatest impact on women’s health in pregnancy is important, Whitaker notes, because clinical research has shown that women who develop HDP are more than twice as likely to develop heart disease later in life.

“We know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, and if we can intervene in pregnancy and prevent women from developing a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, we are putting them on a better trajectory, away from cardiovascular disease and toward more optimal cardiovascular health,” she says.

The study, “Optimal 24-hour movement behaviour compositions across trimesters and risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: the Pregnancy 24/7 cohort study,” was published online June 10 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The findings complement a second study, published online May 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that looked more in depth at the ratio and type of sedentary behavior and light physical activity for the best mix of behaviors to lessen HDP risk. Whitaker is a lead co-author on that study.

Co-authors in the British journal’s study are Alex Crisp, Jaemyung Kim, Karina Smith, Donna Santillan, Mark Santillan, and Bridget Zimmerman, from Iowa; Jacob Gallagher, from Iowa State University; Melissa Jones, from Oakland University in Michigan; Bethany Barone Gibbs, Katrina Wilhite, Alexis Thrower, and Iqra Sheikh, from West Virginia University; and Sabera Rahman, Janet Catov, Christopher Kline, and Maisa Feghali, from the University of Pittsburgh. 

The National Institutes of Health, the University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute funded the research.

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Journal

British Journal of Sports Medicine

DOI

10.1136/bjsports-2025-111091  

Fasting-mimicking diet reduces gum disease inflammation

 

People who follow a short-term low-calorie diet may have reduced markers of inflammation associated with gum disease.

A new study by King’s College London highlights how lifestyle modifications could be important alongside plaque control in managing gum disease.

While fasting has been linked to reduced inflammation around the body, this is the first to establish a relationship with gum disease too. The findings offer new insights into how oral and wider body health are closely intertwined.

Dr Giuseppe Mainas, first author of the study, King’s College London, said: “Our study suggests lifestyle modifications could be important alongside proper tooth brushing for patients.”

Periodontitis, a serious form of gum disease, affects millions of people worldwide and has been linked to wider health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. While standard treatment focuses on cleaning infected areas around the teeth, researchers are increasingly exploring whether diet can play a role in improving outcomes.

The research included 28 patients from across hospitals in Spain, split into two groups – those who followed a five-day restrictive diet, versus a control group who continued their usual diet.

Patients who fasted ate 1,100 calories for two days, then 750 calories for three days. The sixth day gently introduced more calories with soft foods – then their diets returned to normal by the seventh day. This was repeated three times in six months, with patients reporting the diet easy to stick to.

After six months, samples were analysed from the patients’ blood and gingival crevicular fluid – liquid that comes from the small space between your tooth and gum, which helps gums stay healthy and fight germs.

Those who fasted had reduced markers of inflammation in samples from blood and gum tissue compared to those whose diets stayed the same, including lower levels of C-reactive protein, a general indicator of inflammation around the body. The fasting group also had reduced molecules linked to inflammation specifically in the gums, compared to controls.

Senior-author Prof Luigi Nibali, King’s College London, said: “There may be multiple reasons why fasting is beneficial to gum disease patients. Fasting reduces oxidative stress in the body, a common cause of inflammation, which can damage cells and DNA.

“Intake of high calorific foods and refined carbohydrates, for example in cakes and biscuits, can also cause inflammation – so restricting these foods also reduces oxidative stress in the body.

“It may also be that fasting has beneficial effects on the microbiome – the body’s community of bacteria that help to keep it healthy. However, further research is needed to confirm this relationship.”

Dietary approaches such as fasting-mimicking diets could be investigated in the future as supporting approaches alongside conventional therapies for gum disease, such as professional cleaning and oral hygiene support.

Even low alcohol consumption to cancer, heart disease, and premature death

 

Even what many Americans consider moderate drinking is linked to an increased risk of death, disability, and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

“This study provides the most comprehensive U.S. estimates to date of lifetime risks of alcohol-attributable mortality and morbidity, showing that even moderate levels of consumption increase the risk of premature death and disability,” said study co-author Katherine M. Keyes, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “No protective effect of drinking was observed even at low levels,” noted Keyes, whose research focuses on alcohol use and other substances epidemiology across the life course.

“Even low levels of alcohol use come with health risks,” says lead study author Kevin Shield, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and a senior scientist who leads the World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Collaborating Centre in Addiction and Mental Health. “And that risk continues to increase the more someone drinks.”

The researchers, from the United States and Canada, aimed to estimate how lifetime drinking habits affect Americans’ risk of illness and death related to alcohol. After medical experts reviewed more than 7,200 scientific articles on alcohol-related diseases and injuries to determine the level of risk for each condition, the researchers applied those risks to large national health data sets. They then used statistical modeling to estimate how different drinking levels influence long-term health outcomes.

The study offers more concrete guidance than the new U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which currently advise Americans to “limit alcoholic beverages” without specifying how much alcohol is safe to drink. Previous guidelines recommended a daily limit of two alcoholic drinks for men and one for women. The definition of a ‘drink’ varies by beverage type, typically 12 ounces for beer, 5 ounces for wine, and 1.5 ounces for spirits, although that too can vary by alcohol concentration.

While the new U.S. Dietary Guidelines contain a useful ‘less-is-best’ message, they provide no quantitative framework, according to the authors. This study was designed to do just that across the drinking spectrum.

It turns out that two drinks per day, which might be considered ‘moderate’ from a social standpoint, is associated with a substantially elevated risk of a premature death caused by alcohol, they explain.

In addition to mortality risk, researchers examined how drinking patterns influence chronic and acute alcohol-related conditions such as cancer -- including esophageal, oral, and breast -- cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and injury.

The study overturns a common misconception that alcohol can protect health. The researchers did not observe a significant protective effect of alcohol on overall health at any level of consumption. They noted that at low levels, alcohol may be associated with a reduced risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke. But when you look across the full range of health outcomes, including cancer and other chronic diseases, those potential benefits are outweighed by the risks even at 7 drinks per week.

Statistical modeling used in the study to determine health risks was based on “the best possible data,” according to the team. However, they caution one should not assume that means one person’s individual health risk is the same as what is reported here -- that depends on other factors like lifestyle, genetics, drinking patterns, and other choices that differ person to person.

The researchers estimated risk for all health conditions known to be causally related to alcohol and then aggregated these estimates to determine the total health risk. Yet, new research continues to emerge that links alcohol with additional health conditions, such as pancreatic cancer. “Understanding those relationships, and how much alcohol contributes to those risks, is an area that still needs further work,” says Keyes and Shield.

By finding that alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk above one drink per day for both men and women, the study offers a much-needed benchmark.

“Having a clearer threshold helps people better understand what level of drinking is associated with increased risk and make more informed decisions when drinking.”

In an accompanying editorial, Robert M. Vincent, a former associate administrator for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, discusses his view of the behind-the-scenes environment in which the study was produced. “The Alcohol Intake and Health report was explicitly invited to inform alcohol guidance during development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030,” he writes. “Despite the study’s adherence to its mandate, its findings were sidelined.”

Definitive safety data on painkiller use during pregnancy

 

New research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is offering much-needed clarity to pregnant women worldwide regarding the safety of common painkillers.

A large-scale data analysis of over 264,000 pregnancies led to two studies conducted by BGU’s Dr. Sharon Daniel. The research found that taking paracetamol (Acamol/Tylenol) or Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil/Nurofen) does not increase the risk of birth defects.

 

These findings, published in PLOS Medicine and Human Reproduction Open are based on 20 years of comprehensive clinical data. The research was conducted through the siPREG (Southern Israeli Pregnancy Registry), a high-fidelity data initiative that tracks maternal and fetal health outcomes to answer critical questions for global medicine.

 

This research uses advanced statistical modeling to distinguish between the effect of a drug and the reason it was taken.

“At first glance, raw data might suggest a slight increase in birth defects among women who took these medications,” explained Dr. Daniel, a senior pediatrician at BGU and Director of Innovation at Clalit Health Services. “However, our analysis revealed that the risk was actually tied to the mother’s underlying condition—such as a high fever, infection, or chronic illness—rather than the painkillers themselves.”

Key insights from the siPREG analysis include:

• NSAIDs are safe in early pregnancy: The research shows no link between first-trimester NSAID use and malformations in any major organ system, including the heart and central nervous system.
• Paracetamol safety confirmed: One of the most common medications used globally, paracetamol was found to have no independent association with birth defects, stillbirth, or low birth weight.
• No late-pregnancy complications: Third-trimester use of paracetamol showed no increased risk of newborn renal failure or heart-related complications (premature closure of the ductus arteriosus).

Study 1: NSAIDs During the First Trimester

The first study led by Dr. Daniel comprehensively examined the relationship between NSAID exposure during the first trimester and the risk of birth defects.

Researchers analyzed all pregnancies documented at Soroka University Medical Center between 1998 and 2018 that ended either in birth or pregnancy termination due to suspected fetal abnormalities. In total, 264,858 pregnancies were included, more than 20,000 of which involved NSAID exposure.

The study found no association between NSAID use and birth defects.

Although the raw rate of birth defects was slightly higher among exposed pregnancies (8.2% vs. 7.0%), after adjusting for factors such as fever, inflammatory diseases, pain, maternal background characteristics, and chronic illnesses, the apparent association disappeared. Researchers concluded that the increased risk was mainly explained by the underlying conditions requiring treatment rather than by the medications themselves.

No increased risk was found for specific categories of defects, including in the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, central nervous system, digestive system, and urinary system abnormalities.

Even when each medication was analyzed separately, no increased risk was detected.

“The results showed that NSAID medications are safe to use during the first trimester and are not associated with the development of congenital malformations,” Dr. Daniel stated.

Study 2: Acetaminophen (Paracetamol)

The second study focused on acetaminophen, the most commonly used medication worldwide for pain and fever reduction.

Recent concerns suggested that acetaminophen use during pregnancy might be linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Researchers examined whether use throughout pregnancy was associated with congenital malformations, stillbirth, low birth weight, low Apgar scores, newborn kidney failure, or premature closure of the ductus arteriosus (an important fetal blood vessel).

Acetaminophen exposure occurred in 15.5% of pregnancies during the first trimester, and 14.1% during the third trimester, according to the study.

Again, although the raw rate of birth defects appeared slightly higher among exposed pregnancies (7.9% vs. 6.9%), after statistical adjustment for pregnancy characteristics and medical conditions, researchers found no independent association between acetaminophen exposure and birth defects.

Empowering Mothers and Clinicians

To ensure the findings were robust, the team developed a “sensitivity analysis” to account for the reality of unreported over-the-counter drug use.

“We had to ensure that ‘real-world’ habits didn’t skew our results,” said Dr. Ariel Hassidim, co-author of the research. “We demonstrated that the volume of unreported use would have to be impossibly high.”

By debunking long-standing myths with large-scale evidence, BGU researchers are empowering clinicians to manage maternal pain and fever more effectively. This research follows a similar recent study by the team that confirmed the safety of the antibiotic doxycycline during the first trimester.

“Our goal with the siPREG registry is to replace uncertainty with evidence,” concluded Dr. Daniel. “These findings allow for the responsible, research-based management of pain and fever, ensuring better health outcomes for both mother and child.”

The multidisciplinary research group led by BGU included experts from Soroka University Medical Center, Schneider Children’s Medical Center, and Ariel University.

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Journal

PLOS Medicine

DOI

10.1371/journal.pmed.1005063