Download INTERVIEWER: The subject is hearing and aging and I`m speaking

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO FILE:
TOPIC 29664 HEARING AND AGING
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INTERVIEWER: The subject is hearing and aging and I’m speaking with Pam Mason,
director of Audiology Professional Practices at the American Speech Language Hearing
Association. And Pam I guess an opening question is, “How does aging affect hearing?”
RESPONDENT: Well as we all know things change as we age. Every system in the body
including the hearing system changes. These changes are in our ability to hear soft
sounds and changes in our ability to process the sounds that we hear. That processing
happens in the brain. The processing of information is much harder in noisy backgrounds.
And hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition affecting older
adults. Presbycusis is the term that we use for age related hearing loss. But I think it’s
pretty hard to say what is exclusively due to aging. And the hearing loss is a result of
living. That head trauma that you had sledding at age nine. Middle age you had a serious
illness and were given lifesaving medications that affected your hearing. Or living with a
history of noise exposure either at work or play when you were in your twenties going to
noisy concerts and riding motorcycles.
It’s the impact of hearing loss on speech understanding especially in background noise
that it really is impacting people. And untreated hearing loss can lead to social
withdrawal and possibly depression.
INTERVIEWER: Well that’s very interesting, Pam. I guess to follow that up, you seem
to suggest that there are some things that just happen as a consequence of growing older.
How can one tell the difference between those sorts of things and perhaps something
that’s even far more serious than that?
RESPONDENT: Well appropriate diagnosis is necessary. A medical evaluation at your
doctor’s office can rule out medical conditions that require medical treatment such as ear
infections, a hole in the eardrum or something very serious such as a tumor. But most
often the hearing loss is sensory-neural in nature and a full hearing test is needed to
evaluate the degree of hearing loss and to plan for treatment, which may include hearing
aids or other assistive technology.
Hearing loss related to aging can creep up bit by bit very slowly over time. You hardly
notice but over time you can feel that others are mumbling or that you hear but you can’t
understand.
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INTERVIEWER: Well to go back to what you said at the opening. There is polling that
has just been done between AARP and the American Speech Language Hearing
Association and a chief result that emerges from that polling is that there are millions
apparently of people who think that they’re making due with hearing problems that
they’re successfully cover them up. What do you think of when you hear that sort of
result?
RESPONDENT: Well first of all hearing loss comes in all sizes and shapes. And most
adults with hearing loss acquire it very slowly over time. The sounds diminish day by day
imperceptibly. And you may feel that your hearing is fine and you may lay blame on
other people. They’re not speaking clearly. They are mumbling. It’s not my problem.
And unlike vision we can’t close ear lids to experience deafness the way we can close our
eyes to experience blindness. Hearing loss is more subtle. You hear, but not clearly. You
make rhyming mistakes. Missing just one sound in one word like the ‘th’ in the word
thumb or the ‘f’ sound in the word fun. Those sounds are very similar and if you miss
that one sound in that one word the entire message can missed up. And other people can
misinterpret your hearing loss, as you know paying attention to them. You are dull. You
didn’t get my joke. Still others may recognize that you do have a hearing loss, but they
become frustrated. They have to repeat themselves. They have to speak up just because
you’re not doing anything to help yourself. They may just give up and say, “Oh, never
mind.” Boy is that a breakdown in communication. That can lead to isolation, withdrawal
from social activities; everything is based upon an untreated hearing loss that could leave
a person feeling depressed and isolated.
INTERVIEWER: So to just follow up on that, with all due respect to the people that took
the poll. They think that they are covering things up so to speak, but in fact are you
suggesting that they may not be covered up at all?
RESPONDENT: Yes. I would say that it may be misinterpreted by others. They maybe
covering up the fact that they have a hearing loss and others may not recognize it as
hearing loss and they may think that you are not worth talking to because you don’t
understand or you don’t get my joke.
INTERVIEWER: Right.
RESPONDENT: So it’s a misinterpretation.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. Okay. Well just one last question. In looking at the poll results
from the survey that was taken - sponsored by AARP and the American Speech
Language Hearing Association. There seems to be also between the lines of the results
kind of a fatalism about hearing you know, that, “Oh I’m getting old and these sorts of
things happen and there’s nothing you can really do about it.” What do you say to that?
RESPONDENT: I also know that some people are fearfully of the cost involved in
getting treatment for untreated hearing loss. And the first thing that you have to consider
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is, “Why do I have this hearing loss?” It may be medically treatable and insurance will
cover medical treatment. But most people in the adult population have a sensory-neural
hearing loss that is not medically treatable. It’s damage to the inner ear. Those tiny little
hair cells that send the sound energy up to the brain for processing can be damaged
because of the things that I mentioned before; noise, serious illness, strong medications,
head injury. All of those things can cause a sensory-neural hearing loss. And people with
sensory-neural hearing loss cannot be treated medically. For them technology can be the
answer. And technology includes hearing aids, cochlear implants, hearing assistive
technology systems.
Unfortunately technology is not cheap. But for Medicare beneficiaries, if you first go to
your medical doctor and discuss your hearing concerns you can get a referral to
audiologist. And if you have this referral Medicare will cover the cost of the initial
diagnostic hearing test. Unfortunately Medicare doesn’t cost for other audiology services
that are necessary to be fitted with a hearing aid. And Medicare does not cover the cost of
the hearing aids themselves. The ASHA website has information on funding options for
hearing aids when insurance plans don’t cover. Just go to www.asha.org and use the
search term, ‘funding sources for hearing aids’ to locate these options.
INTERVIEWER: Pam that’s very helpful. Thanks very much.
RESPONDENT: Thank you.
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