(NEXSTAR) – The number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to double by 2060. New research is shedding light on warning signs and risk factors that could signal cognitive decline ahead.
One clear risk factor, the research shows, is hearing loss.
“We know from a lot of public health studies that hearing loss changes the brain, and we have also seen in studies that hearing loss is consistently linked to a higher risk of dementia over time,” said Jennifer Deal, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a recent media briefing on Alzheimer’s.
It’s not just about volume, Deal said, but rather about hearing clarity.
“So you can hear someone speaking, but the words kind of blur together,” she explained. “So, the word sphere, S-P-H-E-R-E, for example, may sound like the word ear, E-A-R.”
It’s not clear exactly how hearing loss and Alzheimer’s are connected, Deal said. One possibility is that hearing issues could make it harder to connect socially, and social isolation could make cognitive decline worse.
Intervention – like using a hearing aid – could be helpful in fighting off dementia, but the research is mixed, Deal said.
Hearing loss isn’t the only risk factor that appears in the research.
“It is not one single factor that is contributing to that risk,” said Adam Spira, a professor in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins. “There are a whole range of factors that play a role.”
Another important risk factor, Spira pointed out, has to do with sleep. “We now believe that sleep disturbances, such as not getting enough sleep, having your sleep be of poor quality, more fragmented (sleep) over the course of the night – those sorts of disturbances are risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, according to the developing research literature.”
Sleep apnea, a common condition that obstructs breathing while sleeping, may also increase people’s risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s, Spira said.
Other risk factors, according to Spira, include cardio-metabolic problems, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, traumatic brain injury, and low physical activity.
As the research unfolds, it’s becoming clear there is no “magic bullet for dementia prevention,” Deal said.
“We really need to probably be tackling a number of different factors in order to move the needle.”

Dementia is poised to hit more Americans than ever, but the odds are quietly shifting in your favor. Vox’s Bryan Walsh reports that while a graying population means new dementia cases in the US could top 1 million a year by 2060, a person at any given age is now far less likely to develop the condition than someone that age a generation ago. Across rich countries, age-specific dementia rates have fallen roughly 13% per decade since the late 1980s, with similar drops for Alzheimer’s specifically.
What’s driving the improvement? Walsh points to better heart and blood vessel health—think blood pressure and cholesterol drugs, less smoking, and improved stroke care—as well as more years of schooling, which research has linked to lower dementia risk, though without pinpointing why. A 2024 Lancet commission estimated that tackling 14 midlife risk factors, from high LDL to hearing loss to inactivity, might prevent or delay up to 45% of cases, and Walsh flags the intriguing (but still early) evidence that the shingles vaccine may reduce dementia risk. His view? Some of us will undoubtedly develop dementia. “But that doesn’t mean we’re helpless.” Read his full piece here.
Read These Next
Sunken station on the WII ‘death railway’
Ground beef prices move past a
Olympian arrested after reaching
Summer jobs are hard to come by for latest

A Poe classic has turned out to be an accidental case study: For people with misophonia, “The Tell-Tale Heart” reads less like madness and more like a man exercising enormous restraint, until a sound finally breaks him. Writing for the New Yorker, Sloane Crosley, a self-described misophonia patient (though she says her case isn’t severe), digs into a condition defined by an intense fight-or-flight reaction to specific everyday noises—chewing, gulping, sniffing, tapping—that an estimated 4.6% of American adults may experience. It’s not about loudness, doctors say, but about how certain brains tag particular human-made sounds as threats. When those who have misophonia hear such noises, “they share a dysregulating visceral response, a cognitive and physiological—chest-tightening, heart-racing, sweating—spiral of alertness and exhaustion,” Crosley writes.
The author follows patients whose lives have been reshaped by misophonia—students eating alone in their rooms, a teacher hiding his condition at work, a family switching to plastic cutlery—and the clinicians and advocates pushing to get the disorder its own code in the World Health Organization’s disease manual. That recognition could unlock insurance coverage, as well as basic validation. Others warn it’s too soon, however, to codify something that still straddles both psychiatry and audiology. The piece also explores experimental “semantic hearing” headphones that might one day mute triggers selectively. Crosley wonders, however, “if people should be able to do this. … Should we be able to tailor our immediate environments more than we already do? So much of today’s technology is built for self-siloing.” More here on this under-recognized condition.
Read These Next
Sunken station on the WII ‘death railway’
Ground beef prices move past a
Olympian arrested after reaching
Summer jobs are hard to come by for latest

By Cara Anthony and Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio, for KFF
Listen in and play along as hosts Cara Anthony and Blake Farmer test their knowledge with a HealthQ quiz on detecting early-onset cancers.
Bryce Ramsey of Madison, Mississippi, was 33 when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Upon noticing blood in her stool, she blamed the hemorrhoids she’d developed after delivering her son eight years earlier.
Ramsey didn’t initially link her symptoms to cancer.
“But I had just kind of made a deal with myself because the blood was starting to become more frequent,” she said. “I was like, ‘If this happens the next time I go to the bathroom, I’m going to make a call.’”
She saw more blood, and she reached out to a gastrointestinal clinic to get it checked out, just in case. Her doctor said she normally wouldn’t scope someone Ramsey’s age, “‘but something in my gut is just telling me I need to do so,’” Ramsey recalled. “And thank God she did because she found a 5-centimeter polyp.”
Ramsey had surgery, endured chemotherapy, and survived stage 3 colon cancer. Now 40, she volunteers for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group, to raise awareness of early-onset colorectal cancer.
Stories like hers are becoming increasingly common: In the U.S., more than a dozen kinds of cancer are on the rise in adults under 50. Among these early-onset cancers, colorectal and breast cancers have increased the most, and colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer for Americans ages 18 to 49.
Here’s what to know about detecting early-onset cancers.
1. Family history is one of the most important risk factors.
Researchers have not been able to find a single cause for the rise in early-onset cancers. Instead, research suggests a myriad of factors play a role, including obesity, heavy alcohol use, environmental factors such as microplastics, and disruptions to gut health.
Doctors generally follow population-level guidelines for routine screenings — such as recommending mammograms starting at age 40 to screen for breast cancer — but physicians might recommend some patients get screenings as early as in their 20s. Doctors weigh a patient’s personal risks, including their family history of cancer.
Ramsey learned only after her diagnosis that her grandfather previously had colorectal cancer. “If I would’ve known that I had a significant family history, I would’ve been scoped a lot younger,” she said. “My doctor said my tumor had probably been growing for seven to 10 years.”
After her diagnosis, she encouraged her father, aunt, and brother to get screened. All three were diagnosed with colon cancer, too, and survived after receiving treatment.
Ramsey said it can be uncomfortable to urge family members to get tested or to talk with them about private health information, but those conversations are worth having to save a life.
“Just ask the question or make a joke about it. And sometimes just little icebreakers will help,” she said.
2. Report unusual symptoms as quickly as possible.
Being vigilant about unusual body changes or symptoms — and reporting those to your physician — gives doctors the information they need to determine your personal risk for cancer.
“For example, a lump in the breast, abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits that really are not going away,” said oncologist Veda Giri, director of the Early Onset Cancer Program at Yale Cancer Center. “Certainly blood in the stools. Sometimes even symptoms such as unusual fatigue that doesn’t seem to go away.”
“It’s incredibly important to bring symptoms to your doctor,” Giri said.
3. Talk, then test, then talk again.
Ads for at-home cancer tests are everywhere, so you might be tempted to use a screening kit instead of going in for an office visit or a standard screening, like a colonoscopy.
But not all tests are created equal, Giri said. It can be hard for laypeople to understand the accuracy of at-home screening kits, so they should talk to their doctor first.
“Some of these tests could lead to a false sense of either reassurance or false anxiety and alarm,” she said.
For people who decide to move forward with an at-home test, experts say they still need to consult with a physician. If you get any sort of abnormal result, your doctor is going to want to follow up with additional testing, such as a colonoscopy. Sharing your results, regardless of outcome, will help inform your care.
People and Policy
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently changed the recommended age for women to begin mammogram screenings for breast cancer from 50 to 40. But there’s a difference of opinion among national advocacy and medical groups about whether regular screenings should happen every year or every other year.
In 2021, the same task force lowered the recommended age to 45 for a first colonoscopy for colon cancer detection for people with average risk. Establishing a relationship with a trusted medical practitioner can help patients assess personal risk and sort through new information as research and public health guidance evolve.
Related | NIH grant disruptions slow down breast cancer research
If you feel uncertain about your personal risk for cancer or when you should start cancer screenings, one of the best ways to advocate for your health is to establish a relationship with a medical practitioner you trust and ask specifically about your cancer risk. You can also ask to consult with a genetic cancer risk specialist, a type of medical provider who helps patients evaluate their cancer risk, often with genetic testing.
Katherine Ruppelt and Emily Siner at Nashville Public Radio contributed to this report.

Walk this way at every age.
Movement is essential for a long, healthy life, and walking has been growing in popularity as a simple way to boost heart rate, increase metabolism and lower the risk of disease.
It’s not just how far you walk, though; the pace can also reveal important information about health and longevity.
Previous research has shown that faster walkers are more likely to live longer, regardless of weight, hitting speeds of about 3 miles per hour, or 100 steps a minute.
A quick walk — literally — may mean a longer life, according to a 2024 meta-analysis that found people who walked the fastest were 43% less likely to die of any cause than those in the slowest-walking group.
And there are certain benchmarks you should be able to hit in each decade of life, according to a small 2022 study.
For healthy adults, an achievable goal while out on a walk is to hit a brisk pace that slightly elevates breathing while still allowing conversation.
20s and 30s: 13 to 19 minutes at a brisk pace of about 4.6 mph.
40s: 14 to 16 minutes at a pace of 4.3 mph.
50s: 15 to 17 minutes at 4 mph.
60s: 16 to 18 minutes at 3.3 to 3.7mph.
70s and older: 20-minute mile at 3.5mph.
Not only is a power walk good for living a longer life, but it’s also a good indicator of several health markers, according to Elizabeth Vogstrom, a physician assistant at EVOyouthful.
“A person can have normal laboratory values and still be experiencing declines in strength, endurance, mobility, balance or cardiovascular fitness,” Vogstrom told The Daily Mail.
“Walking speed often reveals those changes before they become obvious in daily life.”
It may not come as a surprise that walking faster is linked to several improved health outcomes, such as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
A brisk walk has also been associated with improved brain function as we age.
Meanwhile, a slower pace, especially one that decreases with each year we get older, could be a sign of cognitive decline or dementia.
A sudden decline in walking gait could also signal underlying health issues.
“When someone’s walking pace slows unexpectedly, it may reflect deconditioning, loss of muscle mass, cardiovascular limitations, joint issues, neurological changes or other health concerns that deserve further attention,” Vogstrom said.
Walking speed has even been described by some experts, including Vogstrom, as the sixth vital sign, providing “insight into how well the body functions in everyday life.”