Whether it is a fact or a fiction, the elderly are stigmatized as being chronically “hard of hearing”. Hearing loss in the elderly is because of the body s normal degeneration. Old age, in general obscures senses. The older we grow the greater is the loss of function in parts of our bodies. Quite a number of “Senior Citizen” are hale and healthy and have no experience of hearing impairment at all. Some times this impairment is genetic in nature. Your uncle Robert s deafness in his old age brings the risk of hearing impairment when you become old. Another important cause for hearing loss in the elderly is what is known as presbyacusis, a form of deafness involving loss of perception of high tones. This being a degenerative process, the older you grow the more will be your hearing loss.
Childhood Issues and Elderly Hearing
Diseases affecting one at younger age may cause partial or total hearing loss in the elderly. Measles and Mumps affecting children can cause progressive hearing loss. Auto immune ailments like HIV, lupus and fibromyalgia can cause deafness among the elderly even if they had affected them earlier in life. persistent untreated adenoids continue to grow and finally obstruct the ears and cause severe hearing loss rate in life. Even sexually transmitted diseases like chylamydia and syphilis untreated, cause profound hearing loss. Prenatal Fetal Alcohol syndrome, or Fetal Alcohol effects during childhood causes hearing loss in the elderly and is only a small part of the disfunction that follows.
Aid for Elderly Hearing Loss
Hearing aids serve as the best line of defense for the elderly hearing loss. The audiologist can examine tone perception, depending upon the ear or ears affected. The settings on the hearing aids can be adjusted suitable to the needs of the patient. Though there is a preference for aids that amplify sounds, it is not enough. Cochlear implants artificially stimulate a number of inner ear nerve endings, through small electric pulses. They are very costly. Many elderly persons do not have sufficient insurance or medical benefits to get those costly implants. Another obstacle for the elderly is that the implants require sophisticated programming along with training for the patient to get the benefit. Thought and memory problems make it difficult for the elderly to understand clearly the technical maintenance of the implants.
The advent of gene therapy in 2005 is still in its trial stages. While it is promising to the young it is not so far the elderly hearing loss. This therapy medically induces re-growth of cochlea cells which produce the microscopic hairs. They boost hearing ability by sending sounds to the receptor sites in the brain. This is much easier in the young as the therapy can take many years to complete. We are not sure of long term efficacy of the gene therapy in the elderly. But there may be chances where it can be utilized with success.
[tags]Elderly Hearing Loss, Brain Receptors, Fibromyalgia[/tags]