Locate a vision and hearing specialist in your city and state with our Find a Specialist locator.
One in Seven Middle-Aged Adults Has Hearing Loss
03-21-2011Researchers in Madison, Wisconsin have discovered that 14% of middle-aged Americans have some sort of hearing loss. For those aged 48 to 59, that percentage jumps to around 20%, and for those 80 years old and older, the percentage skyrockets to 90%. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health research study included 3,285 subjects from 21 to 84 years of age.
Siemens Motion 501
04-13-2010I've had three different hearing aids in my life, and the Motion 501 ITE is the best and most comfortable out of all of them. It isn't very hidden on my ear, but it is quite stylish. My hearing loss isn't severe, so I wasn't in need of something too strong. If you have severe hearing loss this many not be the one for you. I have it on the second to highest setting and it is perfect for me. If you are looking for an everyday hearing aid I would recommend this one.
Consequences of Overlooking Hearing Loss Problems
01-27-2011
What happens to an individual that ignores first signs of hearing loss?
The risks to an individual are enormous; the effects are more far reaching than one might imagine. As Sergei Kochkin of the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) so eloquently states, “When we talk of quality of life, healthy hearing per se is not just to enhance aesthetic pleasure of acoustic sounds in a person’s environment. Indeed, hearing loss has been shown to negatively impact nearly every dimension of the human experience including: physical health, emotional and mental health, perceptions of mental acuity, social skills, family relationships, self-esteem not to mention work and school performance.” (1)
Psychological Health
A study conducted by the National Council on Aging revealed that untreated hearing loss in seniors can lead to depression, anxiety, irritability and anger, isolation, and disharmony within the family. (2)
Diminished Overall Health
The Office of Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services teamed up with BHI to examine the relationship between hearing loss and stress. BHI Executive Director Kochkin says, “Hearing loss leads to stress and fatigue because it requires so much effort to listen to what someone is saying.”
Stress is now widely understood to be a direct contributing factor in a number of life-threatening illnesses. According to the Mayo Clinic, stress-related threats to good health include high blood pressure, headache, back pain, decreased immune system, heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, depression, and obesity. (3)
Reduced Alertness/Risk To Personal Safety
During studies measuring the effects of cell phone use and other distractions on driving competency, older men and women complained that their own hearing deficiencies hampered their driving performance. A survey reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that “people who reported hearing difficulties were 1.6 times as likely to have ceased driving.” (4)
The article went on to say that “a study of the driving habits of 2,379 current drivers of ages 50 and older found that higher crash rates were associated with poorer visual acuity and moderate self-reported hearing loss, especially in the right ear.”
Imbalance and Falls Connected to Hearing Impairment
Falls are a leading cause of injury death among seniors, and it is believed that imbalance due to hearing impairment may play a role in these accidents.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, fall-related deaths have risen rapidly over the past decade, and “the direct medical costs of falls totaled a little over $19 billion.”(5) Senior falls result in as many as 480,000 fractured bones every year. (6)
Impaired Memory And Ability To Learn
Science Daily reported on a Brandeis Study that linked hearing impairment to reduced cognitive power. Struggling to hear, it is theorized, may consume so much brain energy that “spoken language skills” are negatively impacted.
The study indicated that “even when older adults could hear words well enough to repeat them, their ability to memorize and remember the words was poorer when compared with other individuals of the same age who had good hearing.” (7)
Reduced Job Performance/Earning Power
Based on a research survey, the Better Hearing Institute estimates that hearing loss costs each family with a hearing-impaired member an average of $12,000 in lost income, while untreated hearing loss costs all Americans $18 billion in lost productivity and “unrealized taxes.” (8)
Conclusion
Virtually all of these consequences can be minimized or even eliminated entirely with the use of hearing aids. In the study by the National Council on Aging hearing aids have been shown to alleviate depression and anxiety and to improve relations within families impacted by hearing loss. When stress of any kind, hearing-related or otherwise, is removed from a person’s environment, the benefits are often nearly instantaneous.
Correcting hearing loss improves language and memory skills, increases earnings and enhances personal safety. It is extremely important to visit a specialist or consult an audiologist to choose a hearing aid.
If you or someone you love struggles with hearing loss, don’t wait to seek help. Visit www.VisionHearingHealth.com for more information and resources.
References
(1,2) Consequences of Hearing Loss, Sergie Kochkin, Ph.D., Better Hearing Institute http://www.betterhearing.org/hearingloss/consequencesofhearingloss/index.cfm
(3) Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001
(4) From Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Hearing Impairment Affects Older People's Ability to Drive in the Presence of Distracters, Louise Hickson, PhD; Joanne Wood, PhD; Alex Chaparro, PhD; Philippe Lacherez, PhD; Ralph Marszalek, BPsychSci(Hons), 08/06/2010; J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010;58(6):1097– 1103 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725277
(5) Centers for Disease Control, Home and Recreational Safety, http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html
(6)WEBMD.com Healthy Aging, http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/prevent-slips-falls
(7) Brandeis University (2005, September 1). Brandeis Study: Poor Hearing May Cause Poor Memory. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 23, 2011
(8) “The Impact of Untreated Hearing Loss on Household Income” , Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D., August 2005 Better Hearing Institute, http://www.betterhearing.org/pdfs/MarkeTrak7_ImpactUntreatedHLIncome.pdf
Hearing Loss and Dementia
03-30-2011Researchers are calling for “critically needed” “rehabilitative strategies” for confronting a newly discovered association between hearing loss and the progression of dementia.
How to be a smart hearing aid buyer
03-18-2011
Many people have a misconceptions about hearing aids and believe there is no solution to their hearing problem. Consumerrespots.org conducted a national survey of 1,100 people who bought hearing aids in the past three years, and lab-tested the features of 44 hearing aids to learn more about the following challenges.
What are the differences between ophthalmologist, optometrist, and an optician?
Copyright 2010 PHSIMD All Rights Reserved