| Age-related hearing loss can be a confusing, | | | | about half of all people 65 and over experience some |
| frustrating, and even debilitating part of growing | | | | level of hearing loss. |
| older. Understanding what it is and how it works can | | | | Men seem to be at considerably greater risk of age |
| help you find the best ways of coping with it. | | | | related hearing problems than women. Research by |
| Hearing loss that is directly related to aging, which is | | | | the National Academy on Aging Society indicates that |
| also known as presbycusis, is almost impossible to link | | | | some 60% of all people with hearing loss are men, |
| to any one specific cause. However there are several | | | | and the older we get the greater the variance |
| factors, some of which we can effect but most of | | | | becomes. |
| which are beyond our control, that may be part of | | | | Whites are more likely to experience hearing loss |
| the cause. | | | | than blacks at all ages, but the gap widens as the |
| Heredity is believed to play an important role in | | | | population ages. According to the NAAS whites make |
| determining whether we experience hearing | | | | up 83% of the general population in the US, but they |
| impairment as we age. Having parents and/or | | | | comprise 91% of the hearing impaired population. |
| grandparents who became hard of hearing when | | | | The mechanics of age-related hearing loss |
| they got older increases the odds that that you may | | | | The physical mechanics of hearing loss related to |
| lose some hearing capability. | | | | aging involves gradual changes to the structure of |
| Exposure to loud noises can contribute to the | | | | the inner ear. The most common change takes place |
| problem. People who work in a very noisy | | | | in the cochlea, the part of the inner ear that enables |
| environment are at greater risk of hearing | | | | us to hear high-pitched sounds. Tiny hairs inside the |
| impairment. Listening to very loud music for long | | | | cochlea pick up vibrations and transform them to |
| periods of time, particularly through earphones, may | | | | nerve signals that we interpret as sound. As part of |
| add to the problem. | | | | the natural aging process, some of those hairs and |
| Age, gender, and race can effect your odds of | | | | nerve endings are lost. Since they do not grow back, |
| hearing impairment. There is no specific age at which | | | | this type of hearing loss is permanent. |
| hearing loss is automatically designated as | | | | Presbycusis can also be caused by other changes |
| age-related, though it's rarely diagnosed in people | | | | within the ear, including a loss of flexibility in the |
| under 50. The older we get the greater the risk, and | | | | cochlea and damage to the acoustic nerve. |