November is “Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.”

While hearing loss might be a natural part of aging, it can also impact the brain, researchers said.

If left untreated, it can raise your risk for Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia.

“What I tell patients is, if you don’t use it, you lose it theory,” said Dr. Mia Miller, an otolaryngologist. “So if you’re not getting verbal information to the brain and you’re not using the language perception abilities, you may lose some of that function over time.”

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 6.5 million Americans and their families.