A voice that breaks more often, loses power or becomes painful to use: for many, it’s just fatigue or age. A large American study involving 833,417 patients, however, suggests that such a change could herald an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia, well before the memory lapses.
Conducted by Drexel University College of Medicine and published in the Journal of Voicethis research shows that people with
voice disorder but without hearing loss are at greater risk of dementia or cognitive impairment 58% to that of people of the same age without voice problems. For comparison, hearing loss alone increases this risk by approximately 27%.
Voice disorders and dementia: what the study shows
The research team analyzed data from 833,417 patients during their follow-up consultations with their GP, at least one year after the diagnosis of a voice or hearing disorder. She compared these patients to a control group of patients without voice or hearing problems to identify those who would later develop dementia or cognitive impairment.
Results :
- THE voice disorders were associated with an approximately 29% increased risk of cognitive decline compared to the no-disorder group, compared to 26.7% for hearing loss alone. The authors speak of association, not of direct cause;
- When we look at the details, the subgroup with vocal disorder without deafness had a risk increased by 58.3% while the association of a vocal disorder and hearing loss doubled the risk compared to controls.
People with voice and ear problems were older and more often affected by hypertension, heart disease or type 2 diabetes, which suggests poor overall health.
Why voice can change before memory
For Robert T. Sataloff, these figures can be partly explained by social withdrawal. But a change in voice can also have many other benign causes. Even if the doctor reminds that, in people with Parkinson’s disease, voice disorders often appear before other motor symptoms.
“If you have a voice disorder that affects your tone or if speaking or singing is painful, it is completely natural to participate less often in social or other brain-stimulating activities.”explains Dr. Robert Sataloff, lead author of the study, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at Drexel University. “We already observe this phenomenon in patients with Parkinson’s disease, in whom voice disorders often precede other physical signs of the disease..
Neurologist Chandril Chugh, quoted by Newsweek, recalls that “speech production depends on a tightly coordinated network involving the frontal and temporal lobes, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and brainstem“. For him, “the voice is actually a real-time reading of very complex neural coordination, so when that coordination starts to weaken, the voice often shows it early“.
What to do if your voice changes?
The authors note that many people with a voice problem never consult a doctor, although an ENT can examine the voice and, if necessary, request a cognitive evaluation. A persistent voice disorder does not mean dementia, but it can serve as a signal to check with a specialist.
“Our work shows that voice disorders may be an earlier and more marked sign of cognitive decline than hearing loss alone.”said Robert Sataloff. “We found the strongest link with dementia in patients with both a voice disorder
And hearing loss; but more importantly, we observed that patients with a voice disorder without hearing loss were at greater risk than those with hearing loss alone. It may be wise for many of them to consult an ENT who can prescribe a cognitive assessment in order to develop a suitable care plan.”.
The researchers suggest that future research could clarify whether certain voice problems are more closely linked to future cognitive decline. They also question whether treating these vocal disorders could slow cognitive decline, similar to treating hearing problems.