Download Hearing loss

HEARING LOSS
By: Hunter Weatherbee
WHAT IS HEARING LOSS?
• diminished sensitivity to sounds heard
• "hearing impaired": insensitivity to sound in speech frequencies
• categorized according to levels
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF HEARING
LOSS?
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Age
Noise
Perinatal problems
Congenital problems
Medications
Chemicals
Physical Trauma
Genetics
Disorders
AGE
• Progressive loss of ability to hear high frequencies
• Men: as early as 25
• Women: as early as 30
• Common conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes or medications
NOISE
• 50% of all cases
• causes some degree of problems in 5% of the population globally
• may be temporary or permanent
PERINATAL PROBLEMS
• Fetal alcohol disorders
• Premature Birth
CONGENITAL PROBLEMS
• Superior semicircular canal dehiscence
• Recurring ear infections
MEDICATIONS
• Ototoxic medications may reversibly affect hearing, including:
• Loop diuretics
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
CHEMICALS
• Metals, such as lead
• Solvents, such as toluene
• Asphyxiants
• Starts in the high frequency range and is irreversible
PHYSICAL TRAUMA
• To the ear itself
• To the brain centers
• Either temporary or permanent
GENETICS
• 75–80% of cases are inherited by recessive genes
• 20–25% are inherited by dominant genes
• 1–2% are inherited by X-linked patterns
• Less than 1% are inherited by mitochondrial inheritance
• Syndromic = 30%
• Nonsyndromic = 70%
DISORDERS
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Strokes
Multiple sclerosis
Viral infections
Measles
Mumps
Congenital rubella (also called German measles)
Several varieties of herpes viruses
People with HIV/AIDS
West Nile virus
Meningitis
Syphilis
WHAT TREATMENT IS THERE?
• Hearing Aids
• Assistive Devices
• Surgical
HEARING AIDS
• Devices that work to improve the hearing and speech
• Works by magnifying the sound vibrations in the ear
ASSISTIVE DEVICES
• Telephone typewriters (TTY) or telecommunications for the deaf
(TDD)
• Instant messaging software (IM)
• Videophones and similar video technologies
• Hearing dogs
• Internet and closed captioning
• Signaling transmitters
SURGICAL
• Surgical and implantable hearing aids
• Cochlear implants
END
By: Hunter Weatherbee