April 5th, 2012 - Categories: News, Research - Tags: advice audigy, community awareness, hearing loss, hearing loss and cognitive function, patient care, personalized solutions - No Comments
There are many reasons why having a regular hearing test is a good idea, even if you have normal hearing. Hearing is our most important social sense; it is what allows us to communicate with one another and connect with our friends, families, and loved ones. A yearly test is particularly important if you have other disorders which have been identified as possible causes of hearing loss, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and a history of certain infections, particularly in childhood.
As more research is conducted into the impact of hearing loss, we learn about exactly how insidious the disorder can be.
Hearing loss has also been identified as a risk factor for other disorders, particularly disorders that affect cognitive health. Four of these disorders are particularly important as a person continues to age:
- Dementia – Researchers at Johns Hopkins University recently found that individuals who have untreated hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia time than those people who seek early treatment for their hearing loss. This relationship could be due to a number of factors, such as social isolation, increased cognitive strain or a similar underlying pathology.
- Brain Atrophy – This study was released by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers found that brain volume decreased among patients with untreated hearing loss, a condition that made it more difficult for those particular subjects to understand complex sentences.
- Depression – In 1999, a National Counsel on Aging survey of 2,300 hearing impaired adults age 50 and older found that those with untreated hearing loss were more likely to report depression, anxiety, and paranoia and were less likely to participate in organized social activities, compared to those who wear hearing aids.
- Risk of Falling – Though some people have issues with their hearing that involve their vestibular (balance) function, this study looks more at the direct nature between even a so-called mild hearing loss and fall risk. All other risk factors aside, a person with hearing loss is three times more likely to fall, and that risk increases dramatically as the hearing loss progresses.
These are just a few of the ways in which even a so-called mild hearing loss can affect a person’s lifestyle on a larger scale. A yearly hearing test, particularly for those patients with risk factors for hearing loss, can help insure that treatment is sought for the hearing loss when it is needed. Also, yearly tests can serve as valuable tools to monitor the progression of hearing loss over time, allowing any hearing aid prescribed to be appropriately fit to an individual’s hearing needs.
To schedule your yearly or baseline hearing test, call us today for an appointment. Our Four-Step Process is centered around discovering your individual hearing and listening needs, even if you just need a baseline examination. We have appointment times available Monday thru Friday, so we’re sure to have one that’s perfect for your busy schedule. Let us help you keep on top of your hearing health needs!
February 23rd, 2012 - Categories: Press Releases, Research - Tags: communication issues, community awareness, hearing conservation, hearing loss, hearing loss and cognitive function - No Comments
Nov. 14, 2011. About one in five Americans ages 12 and older suffer from hearing loss that’s severe enough to make communication difficult, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found.
About 30 million Americans, or 13 percent of the population, have hearing loss in both ears, and 48 million, or 20 percent, in at least one ear, according to a study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. That exceeds previous estimates, which put the number of people with hearing loss at 21 million to 29 million, the researchers said.
The study also found that hearing loss doubled every decade of life. Deficient hearing has been linked to a greater risk of dementia, poor cognitive function and falling in the elderly, said lead study author Frank Lin, an assistant professor of otolaryngology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The impact of hearing loss on the aging isn’t “inconsequential” and should be treated, he said.
“If you have poor hearing, your brain almost has to work harder to decode and process sound,” said Lin in a Nov. 11 telephone interview. “If you brain is having to reallocate resources to hearing, it probably comes at the expense of cognition or thinking ability.”
Researchers in the study used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys from 2001 to 2008 for all participants ages 12 and older who had their hearing tested over that period. The survey is thought to be representative of the U.S. population.
Worse With Age
For those in their 40s, about 2.8 million suffer from hearing loss in both ears and 5.6 million have the condition in at least one ear. That number jumped to 8.8 million for people in their 70s who had hearing loss in both ears and 10.8 million for those who had hearing loss in at least one ear, the study showed.
Women and black people were less likely than other groups to suffer from hearing loss, the study found. Lin said estrogen may be protective of hearing and the same cells that make skin dark may also play a role in preventing hearing loss.
Today’s study “gives us the real scope of the problem for the first time and shows us how big of a problem hearing loss really is,” Lin said in a statement.
By Nicole Ostrow
Bloomberg from PRnewswire
February 16th, 2012 - Categories: Press Releases, Research, Technology - Tags: communication issues, community awareness, hearing loss, hearing loss and cognitive function, hearing treatment, patient care, personalized solutions, research - No Comments
Better hearing can make a big difference in your overall mental fitness.
Last year was a big year for hearing studies, particularly as hearing health relates to mental health. We saw multiple studies that linked untreated mild hearing loss to disorders such as dementia and brain atrophy. A new study was just released that offered a bit of positive news: hearing aid use may actually increase self-esteem.
The study, conducted by Hear the World, showed that a majority of hearing aid users experience better overall mental fitness than people who allow their hearing loss to go untreated. Quality of life, intimacy, personal confidence, even insomnia tend to improve for people who wear hearing aids. And when you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Our hearing is our most important social sense; it’s the principle component of how we communicate with one another. To quote Helen Keller, hearing loss “means the loss of the most vital stimulus — the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir and keeps us in the intellectual company of man.”
One of the most important things that we do at Advanced Hearing is work with our patients to restore their quality of life where their hearing loss interferes. It isn’t a surprise for us to see the results of this study. We see the importance of better hearing everyday in our patients. It’s our biggest passion and our greatest privilege. To experience the difference better hearing can make, call us today.
December 28th, 2011 - Categories: Advice, Events, Greetings, News, Research - Tags: advice audigy, communication issues, hearing conservation, hearing loss, hearing loss and cognitive function, hearing treatment, patient care, personalized solutions, sound void, technology - No Comments
SoundVoids™ can cause unnecessary frustration in visiting with your loved ones.
It’s coming. 2011 is almost over and 2012 is on its way. As the new year approaches, it’s a great time to begin the journey toward better hearing. Here are four great reasons to start today:
- If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. A common phenomenon, especially among those who let their hearing loss go untreated, is called phonemic regression. Simply put, phonemic regression is when we find a loss of speech discrimination that isn’t proportional to the person’s pure tone thresholds. The most common symptom of this is being able to hear that someone is speaking but simply not being able to understand what is being said, something we call a Sound Void. This is a very frustrating situation, as the problem is not a simple matter of volume. In some cases, phonemic regression could have been prevented simply by wearing hearing aids earlier.
- Keep your brain sharp! In February, John’s Hopkins University released a startling study that linked untreated hearing loss to the development of dementia in elderly populations. While the exact nature of this link remains a bit of a mystery, it is well known that social isolation contributes to dementia. One of the biggest contributing factors to this kind of isolation is the inability to hear well enough to enjoy getting out and being active.
- New technology provides superior sound quality and satisfaction. The king of hearing aids is no longer that big ear plug that your father or grandfather wore (or refused to wear, as the case may have been). There are many styles available for nearly every budget that are designed to treat nearly every type of hearing loss. The possibilities are all but endless, and so is our ability to help people with many different kinds of hearing loss.
- Better hearing has never been easier! Our ultimate goal as hearing professionals is to reintroduce you to a world of sounds that you haven’t been hearing. Our Service Excellence Guarantee provides you with peace of mind knowing that we’ll have your back and make sure that you get the full value of your investment in better hearing. We offer a 75-day trial period, well beyond the 30 days required by state law, with a 100% refund if you’re not completely satisfied. We also offer extended warranties, in-office repairs and service, manufacturer repair if needed, and a wealth of knowledge to customize hearing solutions for every patient, all as part of our Service Excellence Guarantee. We will support you every step along your journey to better hearing.
To start your journey toward better hearing, call us to schedule an appointment for a hearing test. Through our 4-step process, we’ll learn about you and your better hearing goals, examine your ears for any defects or blockages, diagnose your hearing loss, and show you what we can do to help you hear better. Don’t wait to hear what you’ve been missing! Early treatment can make all the difference!
In observance of New Year’s Day, Advanced Hearing Care will be closed on Friday, December 31. We will return for normal office hours on Monday, January 2. Have a safe and happy New Year!
December 1st, 2011 - Categories: Advice, News, Research - Tags: community awareness, hearing conservation, hearing protection, noisy toys - No Comments
Christmas time is here again, and this is arguably the busiest season for toy makers. As most parents and grandparents know, some of the hottest toys of the season are also the ones that make the most noise. And every year, with the commencement of the Christmas shopping season, the Sight and Hearing Association releases a list of the most dangerously loud toys available.
The Loudest Toys of the Year
The Noisiest Toys of 2011
The toy that gets this year’s dubious honor as the loudest is the Disney Cars 2 Shake ‘n Go! Racer, Finn Missile made by Fisher-Price, Inc. This toy puts out 124 decibels of sound when held close to the ear and 99.5 decibels of sound when held 10 inches away from the ear. Other toys on the list are the Sesame Street Let’s Rock Elmo Guitar made by Hasbro, the Tonka Toughest Minis Fire and Police vehicles by Funrise Toy Corp., and the Dora Tunes Microphone by Fisher-Price, Inc. The entire list is now available for download.
Giving Perspective to the Numbers
How loud are everyday sounds? (Click for full-size image.)
To most people, 124 decibels is just a number. But the Finn Missile Racer, when held close to the ear, is as loud as most rock-and-roll concerts. When held 10 inches away from the ear, the same toy is still as loud as a motorcycle. Both levels of sound are dangerous to human hearing. Prolonged exposure to noise levels of 85 decibels and higher can result in permanent hearing loss. At 120 decibels, damage can happen after less than 10 seconds of exposure. At 100 decibels, it only takes 15 minutes of exposure for damage to occur.
Why the Current Standard Doesn’t Work
As of 2009, toy manufacturers were required to follow sound level guidelines for all toys. The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) (ASTM F963-08) states the sound-pressure level produced by all toys except close-to-the-ear toys shall not exceed 85 decibels when held 50 centimeters (roughly 18 inches) from the surface of the toy.
Decibel-limiting headphones are an ideal hearing prevention measure for children and teenagers.
However, most kids play with their toys by holding them or sitting right next to them, not from a distance of 18 inches. For the past 14 years, the Sight and Hearing Association has tested toys at distances simulating how a child might hold the toy – directly near the ear (0 inches) and at arm’s length (10 inches). A sound-proof acoustic chamber is used to ensure accurate measurements.
How to Protect Your Child’s Hearing
The most important thing a parent or grandparent can do to protect a child’s hearing is to listen to the toy themselves before they buy it. If it sounds too loud in the store and through the packaging, it is too loud for a child. You can put masking tape or packing tape over the speaker of loud toys to restrict their sound output. Limiting the time a child can play with a loud toy is also advisable. For older children, find sound-limiting ear buds or headphones to use with portable music players or hand-held game consoles. Some of these devices have parental controls that allow you to control the maximum loudness that they will generate.
Good hearing is a precious and integral part of how children and people of all ages interact with the world around us. Hearing protection a relatively simple matter, especially when compared to the process of treating hearing loss. When it comes to your hearing, a good adage to live by is, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
November 10th, 2011 - Categories: News, Research - Tags: hearing loss and cognitive function, research - No Comments
By: Bettie Borton, Au.D., FAAA
Doctor of Audiology
Doctors Hearing Clinic
Originally posted on the The Hearing Care Blog
Betty Borton, AuD., FAAA of Montgomery, AL
WRONG! According to ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2011), mild hearing loss has now been linked to brain atrophy in older adults. [ ... M]ore and more research is indicating strong correlation between failure to obtain or use hearing devices and increased problems with understanding speech and cognition.
We have all heard (or perhaps experienced) the complaint that despite the fact that speech is audible, it’s not understandable. “I hear but I can’t understand” is probably the most commonly voiced concern in my office. So, if someone has hearing loss, if your hearing aids make sounds louder, why doesn’t that solve all hearing related issues? Well, like lots of things in life, it’s just not that simple.
A person’s audiogram (or those little blue X’s and red O’s on the graph of your responses to the “beeps”) tells us a lot, but it does not yield the whole story. Hearing thresholds (or the point at which someone is just barely able to detect sound across the frequency range) are certainly important, but don’t give much information regarding how well someone will understand when speech sounds are made sufficiently loud. Word recognition testing, with and without noise, provides additional information regarding this capability, and as a by-product, an indirect measure of the distortional component inherent to sensorineural hearing loss.
We now have mounting evidence that those who have hearing loss, but fail to get and/or use hearing devices run the risk of depriving their auditory system of sufficient loudness, which in turn results in degradation of the mechanisms responsible for understanding speech. A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray mater atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech. When any one of our senses (smell, taste, sight, hearing, or touch) is changed in some way, the brain reorganizes and adjusts. In the case of those with hearing loss, researchers found that the gray matter density of brain in areas specific to hearing was lower in people with decreased hearing ability, suggesting a link between hearing ability and brain volume.
So, use it or lose it may be the prevailing philosophy. Take heart (and USE those instruments that you have!) According to this study, early intervention for hearing loss with the consistent use of amplification can slow the progression of speech comprehension difficulty. “As hearing ability declines with age, interventions such as hearing aids should be considered not only to improve hearing but to preserve the brain,” said lead author Jonathan Peelle, PhD, research associate in the Department of Neurology. “People hear differently, and those with even moderate hearing loss may have to work harder to understand complex sentences.”
In two recent research studies, researchers measured the relationship of hearing acuity to the brain, first measuring the brain’s response to increasingly complex sentences and then measuring cortical brain volume in auditory cortex. Results indicate that older adults (60-77 years of age) with normal hearing for their age were evaluated to determine whether normal variations in hearing ability impacted the structure or function of the network of areas in the brain supporting speech comprehension.
The studies found that people with hearing loss showed less brain activity on functional MRI scans when listening to complex sentences. Poorer hearers also had less gray matter in the auditory cortex, suggesting that areas of the brain related to auditory processing may show accelerated atrophy when hearing ability declines.
In general, research suggests that hearing sensitivity has important consequences for neural processes supporting both speech perception and cognition. Although most the research has been conducted in older adults, the findings also have implications for younger adults, including those concerned about listening to music at loud volumes. “Your hearing ability directly affects how the brain processes sounds, including speech,” says Dr. Peelle. “Preserving your hearing doesn’t only protect your ears, but also helps your brain perform at its best.”
Physicians should monitor hearing in patients as they age, and everyone should have a baseline audiogram performed by a Board Certified Audiologist, looking specifically at speech recognition abilities even in the presence of normal hearing. Patients should talk to their physician or audiologist if they are experiencing any difficulty hearing or understanding speech. If your physician has not referred you for hearing evaluation, take action!
The research cited above in this article appears in the latest edition of The Journal of Neuroscience and was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
