Medical Aspects of Hearing Loss
This portion of our website focuses on the medical
aspects of hearing loss.
Psychological and
Psychosocial Implications of Hearing Loss
Cochlear
Implant Information
Here's a good introduction to deafness,
including types, causes, and treatment.
So how do we hear, anyway?
Ever wonder why hearing aids aren't covered by medical
insurance? Want to know what's being done about that?
One of the medical aspects that is becoming increasingly
important is an increased understanding of the causes
of hearing loss.
Another medical area that's
demanding attention lately are potential hearing
loss cures.
One
of the diseases most commonly associated with hearing loss is Meniere's
Disease.
People with hearing loss often
suffer from a condition called tinnitus.
Audiology
is the art of treating hearing loss, frequently through the application
of hearing aids.
Recruitment
refers to a condition in which sound which is only slightly louder than
a very comfortable sound is perceived as painful. It's a common
condition among people with hearing loss.
One of the
really positive trends in medical aspects of hearing loss is the
movement to provide universal newborn hearing
screening. Checking all infants before they leave the hospital helps
to ensure early identification and treatment.
October
2002 - Here are some great tips on ear care and injury
prevention
August 2003 - If you're on Medicare, you probably know that you can't just
head over to your local audiologist and expect Medicare to cover it; you
need a referral from your doctor first. A recent bill
is attempting to change that.
January 2004 - Scientists have produced a new,
super thin optical fiber that may soon allow doctors to examine the
inner ear!
January 2005 - There's a new organization called Hearing Health Network
(HHN) that's interested in your hearing health. It's a collaboration between family doctors and hearing health
professionals. Read all about it here!
October 2005 - Not hearing well is a certainly a
difficult issue to deal with. It turns out that seniors
may have additional communications problems beyond those caused directly
by hearing loss.
January 2006 - Do you think a computer-based diagnosis
tool would help doctors identify and treat hearing disorders? If
so, you'll be interested in the work being done in Australia.
February 2006 - Do the nurses that
serve you have hearing loss?
February 2006 - Ear Candling:
A Foolproof Method or Proof of Foolish Methods?
February 2006 - Researchers have
discovered that the presence of a particular hormone is related how well
people retain their hearing as they age.
February 2006 - Deafness Research UK has recently
awarded a prize to a Cambridge University student for her work to
develop an objective method to measure frequency regions with little or
no hearing response. Here's the press release.
February 2006 - New technology
promises better hearing loss diagnosis
March 2006 - Ear
infection vaccine developed
March
2006 - Why is the cochlea shaped the way it is?
March
2006 - If your child suffers frequent ear
infections, you might want to consider the home monitoring device
mentioned in this press release.
March 2006 - Kids
With "Hearing Problems" May Suffer From CAPD
March
2006 - New research by the folks at Wake
Forest indicates that an infant's brain must learn to combine different
kinds of sensory information (e.g. sight and hearing).
April 2006 - "Blackberry
Thumb" Strikes
May 2006 -
Artificial stapes was born in Memphis 50 years ago
May 2006 - Guidelines for Care, Diagnosis of Swimmer's
Ear
May 2006 -
Most vertigo cases related to hearing problems
May 2006 - Help for Sore, Irritated, Infected
Ears/Ear Canals
July 2006 - Slime-Like Substance Blamed for Chronic Ear Infections
August 2006 -
Researchers Investigate Link Between Hearing Loss and
Osteoporosis
September 2006 -
Vaccine Aims to Wipeout Ear, Sinus Infections
October 2006 - Going deaf and blind happens
simultaneously in old age
October 2006 - Arthritis,
Diabetes and Heart Disease: Connected to Sensory/Neural Hearing
Loss?
March
2007 - How Your Brain Hears
April
2007 - Dangerous
Decibels - A Virtual Exhibit
June
2007 - Hearing
Loss: A Different Experience for Women and Men
June
2007 - Auditory Nerve Implant Next Big
Hearing Loss Breakthrough?
July 2007 -
Meningitis Immunization Recommended for All Adolescents
August 2007 -
Otoacoustic Emissions: Reducing and Preventing
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
September 2007 -
Lasting Neurological Processes Impacted by Mild Hearing
Loss
December 2007 -
Auditory Hallucinations or Musical Ear Syndrome
January 2008 - Many Kids Get Unnecessary
Ear Tubes
January 2008 -
Hearing Things: When Sounds Come Unbidden
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor: If you're on Medicare, you probably know that you can't just
head over to your local audiologist and expect Medicare to cover it; you
need a referral from your doctor first.
That may soon change. Representative Jim Ryun (R-KS) and
Representative Lois Capps (D-CA) just introduced legislation that would
allow Medicare recipients to seek audiology services without a physician
referral. Federal employees are already able to seek direct audiological
care, and Medicaid is considering a similar measure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2004
I get lots of emails from people asking all sorts of questions about
hearing loss. Often my answer is that we really know surprisingly little
about it. We often don't know the cause of a particular person's hearing
loss. We certainly don't know why two people subjected to the same loud
noise or the same medications can have drastically different responses -
one suffering severe or profound hearing loss and the other seemingly
unaffected.
One of the reasons that we know so little about the hearing of a
particular individual is that we can't examine a person's inner ear
while he's alive; existing tools are just too large.
That may change soon! Scientists at Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre
have succeeded in creating a tiny endoscope consisting of a single
optical fiber that is just half a millimeter wide. The fiber is small
enough to allow exploration of previously inaccessible parts of the
body, including the inner ear. But don't rush down to your ENT and
demand an examination just yet - the optical image available using the
new endoscope is still pretty crude. But the researchers who developed
it are working on an improved version with much better optical
qualities. It may soon be possible to see what's going on in YOUR inner
ear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2006
Exact
numbers of nurses with hearing loss remains elusive. The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services — Public Health
Services (2004) estimates that 28 million people, in the
United States
, are deaf or hard of hearing. One can only speculate that the
number of nurses with some degree of hearing loss mirror the
general population. Coupled with this fact, is the reality that
nurses are getting older and hearing loss is one of the issues
many older people face. Additionally, each year more and more
nursing students with hearing loss are being admitted to nursing
education programs (Maheady, 2003). But there is good news for
nurses with hearing loss. The following resources can help many
nurses with hearing loss to continue to practice.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February
2006
Mimosa
Acoustics has received FDA approval to market a device that can identify
hearing problems related to the middle ear. But ironically, one of its
greatest benefits may be ruling out severe hearing problems in newborn
babies. Champaign-based Mimosa got word from the Food and Drug
Administration on Feb. 10 that its wideband Middle Ear Power Analyzer
had been approved for commercial use.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March
2006
A
vaccine which could help prevent ear infections in young children has
been developed by Czech scientists. Also known as acute otitis media,
the infections can be very painful and - very rarely - cause long term
damage. The vaccine was effective against two bacteria - the
streptococcus pneumoniae and haemophilus influenzae, the Lancet
reported. But a UK ear expert said there concerns about vaccinating
children against what was generally a mild infection. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March
2006
Specialist
Dr. Larry Medwetsky said that more people are becoming aware of the
possibility that a problem with the child's behavior may be CAPD rather
than ADHD. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is often
misunderstood because it can be confused with certain learning
disabilities like ADHD. Kids with CAPD have normal hearing, but they
can't process information they hear in the same way as others do,
because their ears and brain don't fully coordinate. Think of it as a
short from the ear to the brain. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2006
Shea has
since performed the same ear surgery on more than 25,000 patients, while
millions worldwide have also had their hearing restored with his
invention, an artificial stapes bone. Shea is 81 today, and still
performing the same procedure. In the mid-1950s surgeons were
experimenting with a variety of materials to produce implants, but they
all triggered an immune response and were rejected by the body.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2006
Editor: If you know much about the anatomy of the inner ear, you know
that physical structures that are crucial to hearing and balance are
located right next to each other. So you may not be surprised to learn
that hearing and balance disorders often appear together. Here's a report
on this phenomenon from Hear-It (http://www.press.hear-it.org/)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three out of four cases of vertigo are related to hearing disorders.
It is estimated that 2 percent of the general population suffer from
vertigo. Among those, 75 percent also suffer from hearing problems. This
was the conclusion reached at the "Scientific Congress on Vertigo,
Cholesteatoma and Otitis", held by Gaes and the Spanish Society of
Otorhinolaryngology and Neck and Head Pathology.
People suffering from vertigo experience a sensation of movement that
does not exist, and/or other frequently related symptoms such as hearing
loss, buzzing in the ears, headaches, dizziness, vomiting and loss of
balance.
Common among the elderly
The prevalence of vertigo is highest, as high as 30 percent, among old
people. Among young adults, the prevalence is 2 percent, according to Dr.
Gonzalo Corvera, specialist surgeon in otorhinnolaryngology and founder of
the Mexican Society of Otology and Otoneurology.
A number of factors cause vertigo, among them disorders of the
vestibular where the organ of equilibrium is located, infections in the
middle and inner ear, trauma to the head, viruses, drugs and a lack of
blood flow. "Due to the proximity of the vestibular to the cochlea in the
inner ear, it is quite usual that hearing is affected," added Dr. Corvera.
Check the hearing
Vertigo cases represent 5 percent of all visits to general
practitioners, according to Dr. Nicolás Pérez, of the Clinic University of
Navarra. It is, therefore, recommended for vertigo sufferers to have their
hearing tested, as 3 out of four cases of vertigo are related to hearing
disorders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bacterial
biofilm resistant to antibiotics, study finds
July 2006
If your young
child has an ear infection that won't go away, he may be struggling with a
slime-like substance in the middle ear that experts call bacterial "biofilm."
This biofilm makes it harder for antibiotics to do their jobs, leading to
long-lasting ailments. Bacteria appear to be hiding in this usually
protective slimy film in kids with chronic middle ear infections, a new
study found. The discovery isn't going to lead to any new treatments right
away, but they may eventually help doctors get a better handle on one of
the plagues of childhood. Ear infections, in fact, are the most common
illnesses that bring children to doctors.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August
2006
Saint
Louis University researchers are studying how osteoporosis, hearing loss,
and dizziness may be related. The study hopes to enroll 300 to 400 women,
who are affected by osteoporosis more often than men. Anthony Mikulec,
chief of otologic and neurotologic surgery and assistant professor in the
department of otolaryngology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine,
has published research showing that patients with otosclerosis are more
likely to have osteoporosis. In January, Mikulec and Kent Wehmeier,
associate professor in the division of endocrinology at Saint Louis
University School of Medicine, began to study the relationship between
bone loss and specific kinds of hearing loss and dizziness in
post-menopausal women.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
U.S. researchers said Tuesday that they are
starting trials of a new vaccine aimed at wiping out childhood ear and
sinus infections and many cases of bronchitis in adults. Unlike virtually
all other vaccines on the market, this one will not be aimed at saving
lives, but at preventing nuisance illnesses, the researchers said. "We are
now in an era where we look to vaccines that make life better," said Dr.
Michael Pichichero, a professor of microbiology, immunology, pediatrics,
and medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who is leading
the trial.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October
2006
Arthritis,
diabetes, and heart disease are chronic medical conditions affecting
millions of people in the U.S. There is on-going evidence that each is
connected to sensory/neural hearing loss, which also affects millions of
Americans. Audiologists
should be aware of these connections when taking patient histories and
conducting interviews. This article will look at the latest evidence
relating arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease to hearing loss. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2007
Here's
a very cool site that uses interesting games and demos to teach us about
hearing and hearing loss. It includes simulations of what various common
sounds are like for a person with hearing loss, and LOTS of other stuff.
The purpose of the site is to answer three important questions:
1.
What are the sources of dangerous sounds?
2.
What are the effects of listening to dangerous sounds?
3.
How do I protect myself from dangerous sounds?
The
Virtual Exhibit is based on the Dangerous Decibels exhibit at the Oregon
Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June
2007
There
are disparities in high-frequency and low-frequency hearing patterns
between men and women. . . . Aging women have better high-frequency
hearing than men. But women in their sixties through their nineties lose
low-frequency hearing at a faster rate than men, according to
researchers from the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. When
it comes to communicating, "speech consonants are high frequency,
so high-frequency loss causes difficulty in understanding words,"
said George Gates, M.D., a professor of otolaryngology and head and neck
surgery at the University of Washington. Over the course of a lifetime,
"men seem to get more noise exposure than women and thus have more
high frequency loss," Gates said. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
(NFID) applauds and strongly supports new recommendations made yesterday
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to expand the meningococcal
disease immunization recommendations to encompass a broad range of
adolescents. The ACIP now recommends meningococcal vaccination for all
adolescents 11-18 years of age. The vote to expand the CDC's previous
meningococcal immunization recommendations took place during the June 27
meeting of the ACIP in Atlanta, Ga. The decision was based upon the
disease epidemiology data showing an increased risk for disease among
adolescents and young adults 11-18 years of age and increased
availability of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine. Meningococcal
disease is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in US toddlers,
adolescents and young adults.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2007
Hearing conservationists need effective schemes to
determine whether their hearing-conservation programs (HCPs) are
successful, determine whether new interventions are helpful, and establish
which personnel in their care have an increased risk for noise-induced
hearing loss (NIHL). Currently, these goals cannot be achieved because the
measure of success is also the measure of failure-by the time a hearing
loss is recorded, personnel have already been damaged and the HCP has
failed. Tests are needed that enable audiologists to catch hearing loss
before it becomes clinically significant and-better still-stop a hearing
loss from ever occurring. An otoacoustic emission (OAE) test may be the
solution. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
Mild-to-moderate forms of hearing loss can have a
lasting impact on the auditory cortex, according to findings by
researchers at New York University's Center for Neural Science. The study,
which is the first to show central effects of mild hearing loss, appeared
in the August 31, 2007 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. The study
was authored by NYU scientists Han Xu, Vibhakar Kotak, and Dan Sanes,
working in NYU's Center for Neural Science. Previously, researchers had
been unable to conclusively determine the neurological impact of mild
forms of hearing loss, which occurs when the pathway by which sound
reaches the cochlea is disrupted-such as is experienced with middle ear
infections during childhood. The NYU study sought to address this question
in an animal model by measuring the impact of conductive hearing loss
without injury to the cochlea.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2007
Auditory hallucinations are defined as the
perception of an auditory event such as voices or music in the absence of
an external stimulus. Such hallucinations, especially the hearing of
distinct, commanding voices, are often connected with psychiatric
disorders such as schizophrenia; however, musical hallucinations are
usually non-psychiatric in nature and linked to conditions such as hearing
loss, brain lesions, diseases such as epilepsy, injuries, drugs, and
alcohol withdrawal. Once considered rare, auditory hallucinations,
especially the perception of phantom music, are so common among persons
with hearing loss that Neil G. Bauman, PhD, recommends the more neutral
term "musical ear syndrome" or MES to refer to the condition.2 In his
speaking engagements, up to 30 percent of his audiences will publicly
admit to having heard "strange phantom voices, ethereal music or other
spooky sounds that no one else hears.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2008
We are all, to some extent, human jukeboxes, able
to program for pleasure and for reference. And while music sometimes
sticks around longer than we would like - like a hit tune or an
advertising jingle - for the most part we control what's inside our heads.
This story, however, describes what can happen when a person loses
control. For some people, the music comes unbidden, sticks around, makes
too much noise and won't go away. Cheryl C., (not her real name) is a
patient of the well-known author and neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks. Her
story appears in his new book Musicophilia. About five years ago, Cheryl
was in bed reading when all of a sudden she heard a tremendous clamor. As
Sacks tells it, "There were sirens, there were voices, there were bells,
there was screaming, there was clanging." She jumped up, rushed to the
window to see what could be creating such noise. But when she looked she
saw nothing. "I suddenly realized that these horrendous noises were in my
head," she says.
Full Story
