Researchers in New Jersey are helping people with hearing loss, and some of the patients -- doctors may not necessarily be used to seeing.

New research shows people who are in early stages of hearing loss may not even know it and are putting themselves through an unneeded mental battle.

Dr. Virginia Toth, a hearing expert at JFK Medical Center, is using new research, which shows a direct link to cognitive skill decline with hearing loss to push for adults, even young adults, to look into hearing aids.

Dr. Toth says she recognizes there's a stigma especially with younger people who may not want to first recognize there's a problem and second, deal with a perceived stigma which comes with wearing a hearing aid.   

"When you are walking around with untreated hearing loss, your brain has to work a lot harder to figure out what's being said and when your brain is working so hard to figure out, you have less capacity, less mental capacity, [and] less cognitive skills to process to remember to think," says Dr. Toth.

Hearing patient and advocate Frayda Kleiman says she began losing her hearing just after turning 40, and since wearing almost invisible hearing aids, she's regained control back of her life.

Dr. Toth says with the invention and constant evolution of blue tooth technology, we as a society have become so used to seeing and wearing things in our ears, it has helped significantly to reduce the stigma of wearing hearing aids.