New study findings: Hearing impairment shrinks brain faster

Hearing Loss Linked to Accelerated Brain Tissue Loss

We know that as we age our brain becomes smaller but the results of a recent study from the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland now suggests that older adults who suffer from hearing loss are more likely to experience a higher level of brain shrinkage at a faster rate.

For the study, Dr. Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues analyzed 126 participants aged between 56 and 86 years for up to a 10-year period. The study participants underwent yearly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for their brain changes to be tracked plus physical examinations, including hearing tests. At this point, 71 participants had normal hearing, while 51 had impaired hearing with a minimum loss of 25 decibels. The participants with impaired hearing also lost at least an extra cubic centimeter more of brain tissue every year, compared with those who had normal hearing.

Address hearing loss ‘sooner rather than later’

Dr.Lin says it is not surprising that these particular brain structures were affected. He explains that because people with hearing loss tend to use speech and sound less, brain structures linked to these processes are more likely to shrink due to lack of stimulation.

He also says their findings emphasize the importance of treating hearing loss as early as possible, adding: “Our results suggest that hearing loss could be another ‘hit’ on the brain in many ways.If you want to address hearing loss well, you want to do it sooner rather than later. If hearing loss is potentially contributing to these differences we’re seeing on MRI, you want to treat it before these brain structural changes take place.” Dr. Lin and his colleagues say they plan to eventually examine whether treating hearing loss early can reduce the risk of associated health problems.

You can book a hearing test free of charge at any of Hidden Hearing’s extensive branch and clinic network.Freephone 0800 587 7267 or visit www.hiddenhearing.org

 

Dr Hilary Jones Discusses Hearing Loss on the U105 Morning Show.

Dr Hilary Jones interviewed on U105

Dr Hilary Jones TV Health Broadcaster and Author talks to U105 FM Morning Show discussing hearing loss and it’s effects. Click the play button above to listen to the interview with Dr Jones.

If you can’t hear danger, you put yourself at risk

Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways. Effects can range from simple misunderstandings to full withdrawal from family and friends and major depression.

Dealing with hearing loss without professional assistance can lead to many major problems in life and have dangerous consequences.

Many aging adults who experience minor hearing loss simply turn up the volume on electronics to make sounds marginally clearer and more distinguishable. Unfortunately, untreated minor hearing loss doesn’t stay minor. Hearing loss is progressive and will get worse unless it’s detected and treated.

When hearing loss gets to the point where the patient is unable to hear conversation, they will often start to withdraw from conversation and social situations. They’ll miss audible cues that would help keep them from harm in their daily lives.

Even severe hearing loss is sometimes not enough to get the patient to seek treatment. These patients are often at the point where they are anxious, upset, and already started the slide into depression. Friends and family may find them unresponsive and difficult to communicate with.

These patients may also unknowingly be living in danger of serious injury or death. With more profound hearing loss, high pitched sounds, such as smoke and fire alarms, are almost impossible to hear. This lack of ability to hear can cause a seriously dangerous situation for patients with hearing loss who continue to live alone.

Those who live alone are at an increased risk because they often cannot hear sounds that would keep them safe. They can miss important sounds like smoke detectors, emergency alarms, the doorbell and telephone. They can miss the sounds that would alert them to danger such as the breaking of glass, or the forcing of a door late at night.

But not all dangers are loud. In fact, some may be soft: The murmuring cry of an infant, a distant fire siren, or a neighbor’s call for help.
We’ve been relying on our sense of hearing for thousands of years to warn us of potential danger, while sleeping and awake, and things are no different today — except that today there ‘s help.

If you can’t hear dangers, you put yourself, your family, and friends at higher risk. That’s why it’s important to have a hearing evaluation annually. Hearing loss happens gradually you may not even notice what you’re missing. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is getting a free hearing evaluation from an audiologist to determine if you even have a hearing loss. If you do, at Hidden Hearing our friendly staff will guide through the path to better hearing.

A cold virus can cause hearing loss

In Michael Berkeley’s case, a cold virus had travelled to his inner ear, causing swelling, compressing and damaging the nerves (picture posed by model)

The concert at the Royal Albert Hall promised to be a wonderful evening, but a short way into the performance of the British National Orchestra of Wales, Michael Berkeley fled his seat in despair.

He had recently lost most of his hearing as a result of a cold virus, and now the composer and Radio 3 presenter was struggling to cope with his new hearing aids: loud, percussive notes were distorted, chords sounded as if they clashed, and the lightness of the flute was completely lost. It was a devastating moment for a man whose life has revolved around music: Michael has been composing music since the age of six; his father was a composer and, as a child, he sang for his godfather Benjamin Britten. Yet his hearing could possibly have been saved had he been swiftly referred for specialist treatment. Sadly, when he complained of sudden hearing loss, not one but two GPs both dismissed the condition as a temporary complication of a cold. In fact, Michael had sensorineural hearing loss, which can be caused by damage to the hair cells in the cochlea (inner ear) or to the hearing nerve — or both. In his case, a cold virus had travelled to his inner ear, causing swelling, compressing and damaging the nerves. What distinguishes sensorineural hearing loss from the blocked-up feeling you get with a cold is that the hearing suddenly disappears completely, usually in one ear, but possibly in both.

It needs speedy treatment with steroids to reduce inflammation. As soon as the nerves are compressed, they start to die, explains Myles Black, a consultant ear, nose and throat (ENT) and thyroid surgeon at East Kent University Hospital. However, there is concern that patients could be needlessly losing their hearing because GPs aren’t properly trained to diagnose sensorineural hearing loss. The average length of time trainee doctors spend in the ENT department is just one and a half weeks, according to a survey published in the Journal of Laryngology and Otology.

So GPs may dismiss sudden hearing loss as another form of deafness, known as conductive hearing loss which is usually caused by a blockage — such as a build-up of excess ear wax or fluid  from an ear infection. Unlike sensorineural hearing, it may clear spontaneously or can be treatable through medication or surgery.

In Michael Berkeley’s case, a cold virus had travelled to his inner ear, causing swelling, compressing and damaging the nerves. Michael’s problems began in August 2010, when he developed  a chesty cold. One morning he awoke at his farmhouse in Wales to find the hearing in his right ear had suddenly disappeared.

He says: ‘It was like being in a soundproofed room. It was terrifying. ’I relied on this ear because as a child I’d suffered with a middle ear infection in my left ear, which had reduced my hearing by about 20 per cent. ‘Now I couldn’t hear a thing in my right ear and the hearing in my left ear was worse, too. ’I began to panic — how on earth was I supposed to compose and listen to music if I couldn’t hear? I felt like a painter who was going blind.’ He went to his GP straight away but the problem was dismissed as a temporary after effect of his cold and Michael was prescribed drops to clear his ear. When these failed to work, he saw another GP in London ten days later — only again to be given drops and told it would soon clear up.

A simple way for a GP to establish whether someone has sensorineural hearing loss is to use a tuning fork. This is placed in the middle of the forehead. The patient is then asked in which ear the sound is louder — if hearing is normal, the sound will be heard equally between the two. Michael was offered no such test and  his hearing loss had a ‘devastating effect’, he recalls.‘I was trying to compose a piece for the Nash Ensemble, one of Britain’s finest chamber music groups, but it was so difficult. ‘And I remember being mortified sitting next to Sandra Howard (wife of ex-politician Michael) at a dinner and just nodding because I couldn’t hear a word she was saying.

‘I should have gone to see a specialist, but I’d been told by two doctors it would clear up.’ Six weeks after he first lost his hearing, Michael wrote an article about the battle to compose music with a blocked ear. This came to the attention of John Graham, a surgeon at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London, who contacted Michael to say he thought he’d been misdiagnosed — the problem was nerve damage in his inner ear. Michael then underwent an audiogram examination to test his ability to hear different tones and loudness — the results confirmed the diagnosis. Michael was prescribed steroids to try and reduce the swelling pressing on the nerves, but  was told it was likely the nerves had been damaged for too long to respond. ‘If there is nerve damage, it’s likely to happen within the first two weeks or less of having a cold,’ explains Mr Graham. ‘That’s why doctors need to react quickly. By the time I saw Michael, he’d suffered from the problem for two months.’ The drugs made no difference and Michael had no choice but to accept he’d need a hearing aid. ‘I was so angry. Why hadn’t the GPs I’d seen known that I might need steroid treatment? ‘Doctors have a lot to contend with, but how could they not consider something as routine as this when so many people suffer from colds? ‘I was in a black despair. I remember saying to my wife, Deborah, I’ll never be able to listen to music again or hear the beauty of a full chord in an orchestra.’ Finding a hearing aid to suit his needs proved difficult, as devices are calibrated for speech rather than music. He now has one more suited to musical frequencies, but it took several months until he got used to using it. Astonishingly, throughout his trauma, Michael managed to compose. ‘I had no idea what my work would sound like, nor could I be any help to the conductor or musicians. What I heard when they played was still distorted. ’Or I’d miss some of the finer sounds. That’s why I left the Albert Hall so abruptly. ’I just couldn’t bear listening to music and hearing it in a way that didn’t truly represent what was being played. It was awful.’ However, his situation took a turn for the better at the beginning of 2012. Listening to a CD, Michael realised his hearing suddenly had more depth. Sounds were finer and clearer.

A consultation with David McAlpine, professor of auditory neuroscience at University College London, revealed Michael’s brain had gradually reprogrammed itself, based on the memories of music it already had stored and the adjustments it had to make to what it now heard. Michael still needs to keep the volume high when listening to the radio or television. If Deborah, a literary agent, has her back to him, he can’t hear what she says and he frequently misses the telephone or doorbell. He also finds it difficult in crowded company. However, his work remains in demand and Michael is currently composing a piece to mark the installation of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. ‘I try to make a virtue out of my loss by being punctilious about every single note. ‘If this happens to you, don’t be dismissed by a GP, but make sure you get referred to specialist care immediately. ’You need to see one as an emergency appointment. ‘Even if I can no longer enjoy music the way I did, at least by warning others I can ensure no one else ever suffers such a catastrophic loss.’

Anybody who might be concerned about their hearing, can avail of a free hearing test at any Hidden Hearing branch nationwide. You can book a hearing test free of charge at any of Hidden Hearing’s clinics. Visit www.hiddenhearing.org

Source: Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2266042/Hearing-loss-When-simple-chill-ruin-hearing-good.html#ixzz2IhhPdAfW
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Speak up about hearing loss.

This article came from USA but relates to all countries. With Grandparents Day almost upon us (Sept. 9), it’s an apt time to examine that time-honored tradition of shouting at grandpa. That is, conducting conversations at piercing volumes to compensate for a grandparent’s hearing loss.

For many families it’s a small price to pay to avoid insulting an older family member who may be in denial or embarrassed about hearing loss. But denial often has undeniable consequences. In this case, unchecked hearing loss almost always strains intergenerational ties.

It’s hard to follow most kid’s stories and nearly impossible to do so when you have to ask that child to keep repeating herself.

With 99 million Americans over 50 enduring some level of hearing loss, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the refrain of “say again” is no joke.
In a recent ASHA survey, almost half of respondents who reported hearing loss said family gatherings were difficult because so many often spoke at once. Seventy-five percent said they felt left out because of their hearing issues.

The study also revealed a potential fix for the problem of denial. Though less than a quarter of respondents said they would initiate talks with a family member about hearing loss concerns, the majority said they would seek remedies for their hearing loss if a loved one asked it of them. Half said they would if a grandchild asked.

In an effort to prod families to talk openly about hearing loss — and remedies for it — ASHA American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has launched a public service campaign. If you have any questions about hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

Source washington post: To see one the ad campaigns click on the link below.

Actress Katie Leclrec shares a lot with her character

Katie Leclerc has more than one thing in common with her character on “Switched at Birth.”

Besides the fact that both suffer from different degrees of hearing loss, they also both have trouble asking others for help.

When the show returns to ABC Family Monday at 8 p.m., Leclerc’s character, Daphne, seems to be doing well on a job interview – until the woman questioning her realizes she’s deaf.

Daphne’s gone on a dozen interviews and once her hearing impairment is out, “it’s over,” as she says.

Her biological mom has connections that could help, but it’s a struggle for Daphne to actually reach out.

Leclerc has the same problem.

“I’m a terrible help asker for-er!” she laughs. “I have a lot of similarities to Daphne. I really relate to her in a lot of ways and that’s definitely one of them.”

The show revolves around two young women who were switched at birth, Daphne, and Bay (Vanessa Marano). Daphne lost her hearing as a young child from meningitis.

Leclerc, 25, has inconsistent instances of hearing loss, due to an inner ear disorder called Ménière’s disease. But she actually learned sign language at 17, before she was affected.

“I had to have a foreign language and my school offered Spanish, French and sign language,” she says. “I found out very quickly that I sucked at Spanish. I just thought I’d give it a shot.

“I never dreamed then that it would turn into the opportunity to be Daphne.”

Talking with the “deaf accent” she needed for the show was a bit more challenging. Leclerc and her sister, who’s a sign-language teacher, mapped out Daphne’s hearing loss on an audiogram to figure out what sounds she could pronounce and what sounds she couldn’t.

“Then from there, I made everybody in my life absolutely crazy, because I would have to practice the voice, Leclerc says. “I would do it nonstop, so my trouper of a boyfriend stuck it through with me and it paid off in the end.

“The most touching stuff that I get from fans on Twitter,” Leclerc says, “is stuff like, I never had a relationship with my deaf cousin. Because of the show, I’ve learned sign language and now we’re friends.”

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact hidden hearing.

 

NHS administrator had been convinced something had crawled into her ear in 2009

After 11 fruitless visits to her doctor over three years, Danielle Eccles was beginning to think that her severe earache would never  be cured.
Over that time, the 28-year-old, an NHS administration manager, was prone to temporarily losing all hearing in her blocked and swollen right ear, and bouts of ‘unbearable’ pain that caused her to take time off work.
Then, one day, while putting in yet more eardrops as prescribed by the doctor, a ladybird’s head fell out of her ear.

It was then that she remembered that around the time her symptoms first began with a tickling sensation in August 2009, she was convinced that something had crawled into her ear.
Mrs Eccles, who lives with husband Neil, 32, a landscaper, said: ‘A few nights earlier I’d felt sure a bug had crawled in my ear and was so relieved when my GP said he couldn’t see any insect in there.’
This time, however, she was finally referred to hospital, where an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist removed the rest of the perfectly preserved ladybird.
Yesterday Mrs Eccles, who is making a formal complaint to the surgery, said: ‘It sounds funny but I thought I was going mad.
‘It’s made my life a nightmare. I just can’t believe no one saw it. After all, it must be the brightest, spottiest bug in the UK.’
By May 2010 she had already gone back to the surgery six times.
‘I kept on getting ear infections and deafness,’ she said.
‘At restaurants I had to position myself at the table so my left ear was turned towards people speaking and walking along a road with someone I had to walk to their right so I could hear them properly.
‘Neil got fed up having to say everything twice to me.
‘Before this I was rarely ill. But I’ve had to have two lots of time off work because the pain was unbearable and the antibiotics I’ve had to take ruined my immune system leaving me prone to lots  of colds.’
Last year and earlier this year,  she went back to the Elizabeth Courtauld surgery near her home in Halstead, Essex, a further  five times.
By that point, doctors had issued Mrs Eccles with a total of 12 prescriptions of earspray, eardrops, antibiotics and painkillers, none  of which managed to solve  the problem.
She said: ‘One doctor did see something but diagnosed it as a “glob of wax”.
‘It was only in June this year when putting some eardrops in, that the head and jaws of a ladybird fell out of my hand that I recalled the night I believed the insect had crawled in.’
Mrs Eccles took the beetle’s head to show her GP, who finally referred her to an ENT consultant.
She said: ‘Waiting six weeks for the appointment was difficult as by then the deafness and discomfort in that ear was getting worse.’
However, within five minutes the consultant had removed the insect’s body.
Mrs Eccles said: ‘We could clearly see from its spots it was a ladybird. I was instantly able to hear again and that was such a relief.
‘But I feel angry. I was made to feel I was making a fuss about nothing and feel I should have been referred to a specialist much earlier.’
Dr Azhar Shaida, a consultant ENT surgeon from The Harley St ENT Clinic, said: ‘It would appear the ladybird was hiding behind some wax.
‘A GP surgery does not possess the same level of equipment that an ENT specialist department has, so it appears when doctors looked into the ear, all they saw was wax.
‘Because the insect body was encased in wax, it would have stopped the air getting to it so it wouldn’t have degraded.’

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

Source: Daily Mail: Read More >

There is nothing wrong with my hearing…..say that again!

More than half of factory workers who thought they had excellent or good hearing actually suffered hearing loss and didn’t even recognize the problem, a new study shows.

The University of Michigan School ofNursing study found significant differences between measured and perceived hearing loss, and suggests health care providers need better methods of testing and protecting hearing among factory workers.

“This finding shows that even workers who are served by a workplace hearing conservation program and receive annual hearing testing may be unaware of their actual hearing ability,” said Marjorie McCullagh, assistant professor in the U-M School of nursing and principal investigator. “Consequently, health care providers would be wise to examine methods to help workers develop more accurate perceptions of their hearing, and test more effective methods to protect it.”

Of 2,691 noise exposed automobile factory workers surveyed for the study, 76 percent reported excellent or good hearing. However, after formal hearing tests, researchers found that that 42 percent of those workers actually suffered hearing loss. This indicates that self-reported hearing loss is poorly related to the results of audiometry, or formal hearing testing. In other words, many factory workers might have hearing loss and not even realize there’s a problem, and the U-M findings are consistent with other studies demonstrating a discrepancy between measured and perceived hearing loss.

If you have any questions about hearing or hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

Touch and Hearing May Be Genetically Linked

Touch and hearing are usually thought of as separate senses. A recent study of identical twins suggests that they have more in common than is generally thought and may share a genetic basis.

Hearing is so crucial to daily life that people usually notice when hearing loss is occurring. This is one reason that hearing impairments have been so extensively studied. There are 60 known mutations that impair hearing and another 60 that are suspected of doing so.

In the current study, researchers at the Max Delbruck Center of Molecular Medicine in Berlin and colleagues at medical schools in Germany and Spain sought to determine whether touch sensitivity has a genetic component–can be inherited. They tested the touch and hearing abilities of identical twins, who have identical sets of genes. And they also tested these abilities in a wider group of people including fraternal twins, other family members and unrelated individuals.

Because identical twins have identical genes while fraternal twins share only about 50 percent of the same genes on average, any trait governed by genes should vary less among the identical twins than among the fraternal twins. That’s exactly what the study found for touch sensitivity, indicating that it is inherited to some degree–under genetic control. The genetic component (heritability) appeared to be half as strong for touch (0.28) as it was for hearing (0.52).

The researchers also found a connection between the subjects’ hearing and touch abilities–the better an individual’s hearing, the better was their sense of touch, while poor hearing often was accompanied by a poor sense of touch. This suggests that both hearing and touch might be governed by the same genes, though it doesn’t prove it.

Blind subjects, on the other hand, tended to have enhanced touch sensitivity.

Hearing was measured by the ability to detect high frequency vibrations. Touch was measured by having the subjects press their fingers onto fine gratings with ridges spaced at intervals rangers from less than a millimeter to about a centimeter and seeing how fine an interval the subjects’ fingers were able to sense.

The touch test is similar to touching two pins to the fingers. If they’re far apart, you’ll feel two separate pricks. But bring them close enough together and you’ll only feel a single prick. How close the pins can be before you only feel a single prick is a measure of your touch sensitivity.

The best evidence that genes that govern hearing also govern touch came from a group of subjects with Usher’s syndrome, a hereditary condition that causes both deafness and blindness. These subjects also showed a highly impaired sense of touch. This suggests that the gene USH2A, which is mutated in people with Usher’s syndrome, plays a role in both the detection of sound and in the sense of touch.

The researchers plan future studies to see if other known genetic defects that cause hearing impairment also impair touch sensitivity.

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact hidden hearing.

An article on the study appears was published by PLoS Biology on May 1, 2012 and is freely available.

Helping the one you love come to terms with hearing loss

People don’t realize what they are missing in conversations and how many sounds they no longer hear.

Acknowledging hearing loss begins with complex reactions, but the most common one is denial. Although there are many reasons why people have denial, the bottom line is: taking that first step to get a hearing test may confirm their worst fear — that they do have a hearing loss.

There are factors that make denial logical for many people. Hearing loss often progresses slowly. People don’t realize what they are missing in conversations and how many sounds they no longer hear. It is a known fact that it takes about seven years for someone to acknowledge hearing loss. They may hear well in some situations — good acoustics, quiet atmosphere without background noise, one-on-one conversations with a familiar person. Denial can be a tricky thing when that person uses it as a defense mechanism: everyone else has the problem — the world “mumbles!” But most of the time denial goes back to our society’s historical “taboo” of aging.

To help your loved one move beyond denial — don’t push too hard. Find out where they are having the most trouble hearing. If the TV volume becomes too loud, look into assistive listening devices for TVs. Find a phone or handset with stronger volume control if they are missing phone calls. If they can’t hear the door bell, alarm clock or smoke alarm, look into visual/vibrating alerting systems. Use safety as the motivator to get them to consider taking that hearing test. These are the first steps to get people to be aware of their hearing loss and of what they can do about it.Iit is important to know the other reasons for making them take a hearing test. Long-term, unchecked hearing loss can cause auditory deprivation (a condition that results in the brain “forgetting” how to hear and understand speech). Ninety-five percent of people with hearing loss can be treated with hearing aids. Nine out of 10 hearing-aid users report improvements in quality of life. If you have any questions about hearing loss or hearing aids contact Hidden Hearing.