Understanding Hearing Loss

From KXAN.com:

Many people suffer from hearing loss. In fact, the latest available statistics show that over 10% of the U.S. population report difficulty hearing! That's over 31.5 million people! And as the Baby Boomer generation continues to age, that number promises to increase dramatically!

Are you are one of those millions of people who do not hear as well as they once did? If so, you are certainly not alone. Consider these statistics reported by Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Better Hearing Institute :

• 3 in 10 people over age 60 have hearing loss; 
• 1 in 6 baby boomers (ages 41-59), or 14.6%, have a hearing problem; 
• 1 in 14 Generation Xers (ages 29-40), or 7.4%, already have hearing loss; 
• At least 1.4 million children (18 or younger) have hearing problems; 
• It is estimated that 3 in 1,000 infants are born with serious to profound hearing loss.

In addition, studies have linked untreated hearing loss to emotional, physical, mental, psychological and even economic disadvantages! And, to make matters even worse, there are many "myths" about hearing loss that prevent those with hearing loss from doing anything about it.

Click here to view a video about the consequences of untreated hearing loss and the myths that surround it!

Causes of Hearing Loss

One of the most common "myths" about hearing loss is that only "old people" suffer from it! In fact, the reverse is true! The majority (65%) of people with hearing loss are younger than 65 and six million people in the U.S. between 18 and 44 suffer from hearing loss (Better Hearing Institute website).

The truth is that there are several causes of hearing loss with "exposure to noise" ranking high among the reasons. The primary causes of hearing loss are:

• Exposure to noise 
• Medicine 
• Aging process 
• Disease 
• Head trauma

Click here to find out more about the causes of hearing loss:

Types of Hearing Loss

Not all hearing loss is corrected through the use of hearing aids or alternative listening devices. Type of hearing loss determines the specific treatment required.

There are four types of hearing loss:

• Conductive: This could be caused by something as simple as earwax buildup! 
• Sensorineural: This is caused when tiny hairs in the cochlea are missing or damaged. 
• Mixed: This is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss 
• Central: Strokes and central nerve diseases are often the cause of this type of hearing loss. 

Hearing Clearly in Large Crowds

The NYT has an interesting article that discusses a hearing aid technology that has been around a while but is becoming more widespread: Telecoil.

As the article explains:

The basic technology, called an induction loop, has been around for decades as a means of relaying signals from a telephone to a tiny receiver called a telecoil, or t-coil, that can be attached to a hearing aid. As telecoils became standard parts of hearing aids in Britain and Scandinavia, they were also used to receive signals from loops connected to microphones in halls, stores, taxicabs and a host of other places.

People in the United States have been slower to adopt the technology because telecoils were traditionally sold as an optional accessory, at an extra cost of about $50, instead of being included automatically with a hearing aid. But today telecoils are built into two-thirds of the hearing aids on the market as well as in all cochlear implants, so there is a growing number of people able to benefit from loops.

The bottom line is the installation of these telecoils are truly good for business. Someone who has trouble hearing is more likely to visit a place where they can enjoy the performance. It's interesting to note, that they are even being installed in train station fare booths where hearing aids don't work very well due to the noise. As more businesses see the benefits perhaps more businesses such as museums and theaters will make this technology more readily available.

Dementia: Hearing Aids Can Help

The Chicago Tribune reports that hearing aids may assist in helping dementia patients might help increase memory, reduce anxiety and increase social interaction among dementia patients, local health experts say. 


"Whether you have dementia or not, you need to hear," said Ronna Fisher, audiologist and founder and president of Hearing Health Center in Chicago and three suburbs. "It's not normal not to hear. Hearing is what makes us happy in our relationships. If you can't hear, you stop talking." 




 Improved sensory perception won't stop the progression of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease, experts said, but increasing the ability to hear will help reduce a patient's loneliness and confusion. "Getting hearing aids does help them," said Diane Morgan, memory support coordinator. "When their hearing is down, they experience paranoia or anxiety because they can't hear what's being said to them."


 Fisher, whose father suffered hearing loss at an early age, said she began noticing in 2008 that when her dementia patients were fitted with hearing aids –– especially deep-insert hearing devices that remain in the ear for three months at a time –– they socialized more and their memories improved. In a study released this year, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the National Institute on Aging found that seniors suffering from hearing loss were more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing. 


Among other things, the research suggests that hearing loss could lead to social isolation, a risk factor for dementia. The research should offer hope to physicians treating dementia patients, said Dr. Marsel Mesulam, director of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern's medical school. "Doctors and health care providers treating elderly patients should not throw up their hands treating dementia," Mesulam said. "




They can look at other factors that are treatable, like hearing loss or vision." Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a term used to describe the common symptoms of memory loss and declining cognitive abilities that interfere with daily life, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

COLUMBUS, Ind. — A garage sale to raise funds to buy children hearing aids is Friday, Saturday at Sunday at 3356 Cessna Drive.

People can donate items. The money raised will be used to buy hearing aids for 6-year-old Michael Sharp, of Columbus, who has severe hearing loss and speech problems. Any money left over will be given to the office of Dr. Jane Bowman, of Columbus, to help purchase hearing aids for 11 other children.Information: 581-0604 or 350-9135.

Hearing Aids: More Important Than We Thought?

New studies from the Journal of Neuroscience are showing that hearing loss in older adults ;can lead to loss of brain volume. The MRI's results suggest that even moderate declines in peripheral auditory acuity lead to a systematic downregulation of neural activity during the processing of higher-level aspects of speech.

Hearing Loss and Earthquakes

A very strange story is being reported concerning a 75 yr old with hearing loss. Robert Valderzak, from Virginia had been using a special speakerphone with a light on it that flashed when it was ringing and an audio device system to communicate. After experiencing an earthquake his hearing was somehow restored. Robert considered it an act of G-d.

Hearing Better With Your Smart Phone

From WSJ:

A group of hearing health professionals, including ear, nose and throat doctors, audiologists and sound engineers, have teamed up to tackle the wide and underserved market of people who have some hearing loss, but not necessarily enough to require a hearing aid.

ACEHearing

Kevin Leung, left, who has hearing loss, was surprised by the ACEHearing enhancement when he tried out the device earlier this year at Ximplar's office in Hong Kong.

"Although 38% of the world's population has some degree of hearing loss, only a very small percentage actually seek professional help," said Andrew Van Hasselt, who chairs the ear, nose and throat department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Prof. Van Hasselt is one of the principal developers of ACEHearing, a "firmware"—software embedded in hardware. They say ACEHearing essentially turns everyday consumer electronics into hearing-enhancement devices. The innovation is a finalist in this year's Asian Innovation Awards.

The first application of the technology will be on smartphones, either as a downloadable app or firmware that will be installed in phones before purchase.

Users will be able to assess their own hearing in a quiet room by performing a hearing test that takes about five minutes. The device will capture and assess the individual's hearing profile, and then calibrate the smartphone to adjust and enhance its sound output by filling in gaps in the part of the sound spectrum where hearing is less than ideal. It doesn't just make everything louder.

Clinical trials have shown no significant difference between the ACEHearing test and a traditional test administered by an audiologist, according to Paul Lee, director at Ximplar Ltd., a Hong Kong-based software company that developed the ACEHearing technology.

"We've tested it in a quiet room, and those results are absolutely valid," Mr. Lee said. "We are going for accuracy first, but we want to make the test as short, simple and engaging as possible."

ACEHearing will be able to help a wide spectrum of people, from those with a small amount of hearing loss to people with severe hearing loss, according to Prof. Van Hasselt.

And although ACEHearing isn't meant to replace hearing aids, it could prove useful to those who already have them, as it eliminates the need to wear a hearing device while on the phone, thus eradicating annoying and sometimes painful telephone signal interference.

The team hopes to move beyond smartphones in the near future, and implant the ACEHearing firmware in headsets, earphones, MP3 players and even telephone servers and switchboards.

"People are using everyday consumer electronics all the time, so we're incorporating it into the devices that people already have," Mr. Lee explained.

Many people don't seek treatment for hearing loss, according to the ACEHearing team. They are put off by the long process of getting a professional hearing test, which requires a referral to a specialist and multiple doctor visits. There's also the cost of a hearing aid, which can run from $1,000 to $4,000 per ear.

"A lot of people feel they're not bad enough to go and seek help," Prof. Van Hasselt said. And as anyone with a hard-of-hearing parent or grandparent knows, once hearing aids are procured, it's often a hard sell to persuade loved ones to wear them.

The ACEHearing team believes that they have solved the problems of convenience and cost (which would be included in the price of a smartphone or comparable to an app on iTunes), as well as the stigma of wearing a hearing aid.

At noisy dinner parties or business meetings, ACEHearing says users can wear a Bluetooth, leave their phone on the table, and be able to hear everything that's being said loud and clear.

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Ximplar

Professor Van Hasselt of Chinese University of Hong Kong developed the firmware with Ximplar Ltd., a Hong Kong-based software company. The technology will first be deployed on smartphones using a touch screen, above.

Although ACEHearing is a finished technology and has an app compatible with both Apple and Android operating systems, it isn't expected to be commercially available until early 2012.

Currently, the firmware is being shopped around as a licensing opportunity for smartphone and earphone manufacturers, said Guy Proulx, managing director at Transpacific IP Ltd., a management and consulting firm that has taken on the marketing of ACEHearing.

"We're trying to hook up with large manufacturers, and go after the biggest players in the marketplace," he said.

Mr. Proulx added that there were several parties interested, but he declined to give further details.

The team hopes that ACEHearing will eventually become pervasive on all devices that produce sound.

"I can't hear some high-frequency sounds, and I became increasingly frustrated on the phone with my wife and kids," Prof. Van Hasselt said. "I was convinced that if we could bring together all the hearing expertise we could, we could help millions of people, including myself, to have a better quality of life."

The team's combined years of research and clinical experience in sound and hearing fast-tracked ACEHearing's development, which has taken about 18 months.