Hearing Aids Cut Dementia Risk by 23% in People With Epilepsy and Hearing Loss

A new study presented at the European Academy of Neurology Congress 2026 has found that adults living with both epilepsy and hearing loss who use hearing aids may have a 23% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who do not. The finding is notable not only for its magnitude but for how specific it is, emerging clearly in people with epilepsy while showing no significant association in several other high-risk groups studied.

A team of investigators from University Hospital Zurich and the University of Liverpool analyzed electronic health records from more than 250 million patients in the TriNetX network, comparing adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids against closely matched adults who did not. The analysis looked at the overall hearing loss population as well as people living with epilepsy, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, migraine and osteoarthritis.

Across most of those groups, including stroke, migraine, Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure and osteoarthritis, no significant association was found between hearing aid use and reduced dementia risk. The epilepsy group stood apart. Among adults with both epilepsy and hearing loss, hearing aid use was associated with a 23% lower risk of dementia, corresponding to an absolute risk reduction of 2.7 percentage points over five years, or roughly one fewer case of dementia for every 37 people using hearing aids.

“What surprised us most was how specific the finding was to epilepsy,” said lead investigator Carolina Ferreira-Atuesta, M.D., M.Sc. “We expected to see a small benefit across several of the higher-risk groups we studied. Instead, most showed no significant association, while the association in epilepsy was observed consistently across all of our analyses. That consistency gives us greater confidence that this is a meaningful finding.”

The team points to cognitive reserve as a likely explanation. Cognitive reserve refers to the brain’s ability to continue functioning effectively despite age-related changes or damage caused by disease. In most people with hearing loss, enough cognitive reserve exists to absorb the extra mental effort caused by impaired hearing, so correcting it may not dramatically shift dementia risk. Epilepsy is different.

“Epilepsy is different because cognitive reserve is often already reduced, meaning that removing one additional source of strain may have a greater impact,” Ferreira-Atuesta explained. She also noted several biologically plausible reasons for the finding specific to epilepsy, including accelerated cognitive decline associated with the condition, the fact that temporal lobe epilepsy affects brain areas involved in hearing, and that some antiseizure medications may worsen hearing over time.

The implications for clinical practice are meaningful. Because people with epilepsy are already in regular contact with health care providers, incorporating routine hearing assessments into their care could be relatively straightforward.

“Hearing loss is one of the few dementia risk factors we can actually do something about,” said Ferreira-Atuesta. “It’s easy to detect, and hearing aids are established, reversible and low-risk. This is a real call for increased awareness and screening.”

The investigators are careful to note that this was an observational study and cannot yet prove that hearing aids directly cause a reduction in dementia risk. Further prospective studies are needed. In the meantime, the message for anyone with epilepsy and hearing loss is clear: Treat the hearing loss.

“The benefits for communication, mood and staying connected are real and well established, so there’s every reason to act now,” Ferreira-Atuesta concluded.