Patti Smith
The Living Well Committee was pleased to present the topic of hearing and hearing loss during the June monthly speaker series. Dr. Katherine Alsop and Annamae McAdams with UNT’s Department of Audiology & Speech Language Pathology educated the standing-room-only audience on hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance.
Dr. Alsop began her presentation with the statistic that 37.5 million American adults age 18 or older report difficulty hearing. In addition, hearing loss is the fourth leading cause of disability globally.
The most common type of hearing loss is damage to the inner ear, particularly the hair cells and nerve function. As hair cells degrade over time and begin to lose function, the areas of sound that those hair cells are responsible for signaling to the brain are no longer being processed.
What are the signs of hearing loss?
• People seem like they are mumbling all the time
• Difficulty remembering information after speaking to someone
• Ringing or buzzing in the ears
• Difficulty following conversations in background noise
What can cause hearing loss?
• Age is the number-one factor for hearing loss
• Noise exposure (which affects 22 million Americans in the workplace)
• Medical conditions (infections or genetic conditions)
• Ototoxicity (from medications)
Hearing loss accounts for 9% of the risk factors for developing a form of dementia. With difficulty hearing, the brain experiences more fatigue and less stimulation. Even just a mild hearing loss doubles the risk of cognitive impairment without treatment.
Dr. Alsop recommends people get tested if there is any concern about hearing loss. She stressed that quicker intervention always leads to better outcomes.
For more information provided by Dr. Alsop and Annamae, you can go to the website www.rrlwc.weebly.com. The website will also provide you with information on upcoming speakers. There will be no speakers in July or August due to vacations, and the committee will resume the monthly speaker series the first Thursday of September with Courtney Ranger of the Alzheimer’s Association.