The sense of hearing ages as the body ages. Hearing loss usually occurs gradually. That is why it is so difficult sometimes to feel the difference and realize that our hearing is worse. What is the mechanism of hearing and what factors contribute to its aging?

Hearing loss affects Poles of all ages. Most often they are older, but from year to year the age of people with poor hearing decreases. In 2015 (as part of the National Hearing Test), hearing loss was found in 25% of respondents in the age group up to 20 years, 45% of people aged 21-59 and 73% over 60.

Doctors are concerned about the fact that more and more young and middle-aged people have hearing problems. This applies in particular to professionally active people who live under stress, and who relieve tension through very intense exercise. It turns out that even seemingly he althy activities can, under certain circumstances, cause hearing problems. To understand these dangers, you need to be aware of how we perceive sounds from the environment and what can disrupt this process.

Contents :

  1. How hearing ages: the mechanism of hearing
  2. How hearing ages: what do the ears hear?
  3. How hearing ages: hearing and age
  4. How hearing ages: tinnitus
  5. How hearing ages: diseases that damage hearing
  6. How hearing ages: audiological examination
  7. Hearing aging: what harms the ears?

How hearing ages: the mechanism of hearing

What is hearing in practice? It's just mechanics and electrical impulses. But let's start from the beginning …

The ear consists of three anatomical elements:

  • the outer ear, which consists of the pinna, the ear canal and the eardrum,
  • middle ear formed by bones named: hammer, anvil and stirrup,
  • the inner ear, which consists of the snail, nerves and the brain.

The journey of the sound signal is as follows: the outer ear picks up the sound waves and directs them through the canal to the middle ear. The sound waves set the eardrum in motion and it begins to vibrate. The vibrations of the eardrum are transmitted through the auditory ossicles to the cochlea. This, in turn, sets the fluid filling it in motion. Movement of the fluid causes about 15,000 cilia to bend, which produce nerve signals captured by the nerveauditory.

Auditory cilia at one end of the cochlea are responsible for transmitting low-frequency sounds, and those at the other end are responsible for transmitting high-frequency sounds. The auditory nerve sends signals to the brain (the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe) where they are interpreted as sounds.

The cause of hearing loss may be dysfunction of every element of the hearing process.

How hearing ages: what do the ears hear?

Technically speaking, the hearing range covers frequencies from about 20,000 to 20,000. Hz. With proper hearing, we can recognize both low tones, i.e. those made by, for example, a double bass or a car engine, and high tones, such as a violin or the chirping of birds. Moreover, correct hearing is able to process very quiet sounds (e.g. the buzzing of a mosquito), as well as extremely loud sounds (e.g. the engine of a taking off jet). This corresponds to a sound intensity of a few to over 120 dB (decibels).

Additionally, the brain is able to "filter" irrelevant sounds and focus on those that are important to us, but not necessarily the loudest. This ability allows us to follow the playing of a specific instrument during a concert and to have a private conversation in a noisy environment. It was called the cocktail party effect. Thanks to the brain, we perceive sounds from each side of the head and we are able to distinguish between directions - back and front, up and down. This allows us to determine where exactly the sound is coming from, what is the size of the room and if there is any obstacle nearby.

How hearing ages: hearing and age

We hear best until we are around 25. Men are the first to have problems. Hearing gradually deteriorates in men aged 30-40. Its loss increases by one decibel per year for physiological reasons. In women, problems start later in their fifties, which is directly related to a drop in blood estrogen levels.

As prof. extra dr hab. n. med. Henryk Skarżyński, director of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, 3/4 of Polish 70-year-olds have partial deafness. In people aged 80-100, this percentage is already 80%. Senile deafness (Latinpresbyacusis ) is caused by degenerative changes in the inner ear, in particular damage to the cochlea auditory cells. Hearing loss in older people is usually the result of the dying of the hair cells responsible for the reception of high-frequency sounds. The first signals of a hearing loss are the necessity to turn up the volume of the TV set and asking the interlocutors to repeat their statements.

Is it a shame to not hear?

In the TNS studyPoland "Hearing of Polish seniors 2014", about 40% of respondents diagnosed with a hearing loss admitted that they are ashamed of their handicap and that they try to hide this problem even from their relatives. Every third respondent experienced an unpleasant reaction from another person because he did not hear some information.

How hearing ages: tinnitus

It is estimated that about 17% of adult Poles and 35% of seniors suffer from tinnitus. These are all kinds of sounds (squeaks, hums, ringing, hissing) that can only be heard by the affected person. They run, among others to chronic nervous tension, sleep problems and fatigue that prevents the performance of professional duties.

Noise is related to hearing loss, it is a consequence of it. Beneath each hair cell there are 20 fibers that send information to neurons. After a few months of hearing loss, only a few fibers are left and some neurons are completely isolated. Their intense work generates the noise we hear in our heads.

Interestingly, neurons do not like idleness and within a few years they migrate to areas where they can count on better stimulation, e.g. to support the other ear (in the case of unilateral hearing loss after an injury). It also works the other way around, e.g. people whose eyesight deteriorates due to glaucoma may improve their hearing.

This example shows how flexible the hearing mechanism is and how much we can do to support it. If we have temporarily lost our hearing due to an injury, if the auditory nerve has been impaired, or if sound has been suppressed by an excess of earwax in the ears, the population of hearing neurons is certainly already responding to the changes.

In addition to the direct causes of noise, there are also many risk factors that can lead to the occurrence of this disorder. They include:

  • old age,
  • problems with the circulatory system,
  • diseases such as: diabetes, anemia, multiple sclerosis,
  • taking certain medications (e.g. antibiotics, quinine-containing medications, antidepressants, diuretics, and even aspirin, if taken in very large amounts),
  • smoking,
  • excessive alcohol consumption.

Tinnitus is more common in men than in women, which may be related to the higher prevalence of most of these risk factors in men.

People with age-related hearing loss or noise damage most often experience tinnitus in the form of constant high-pitched screeching. People with hearing impairmentdue to illness, they hear rather low hum or noise.

How hearing ages: diseases that damage hearing

Hearing loss is conducive to:

  • untreated or poorly treated diseases, especially: diabetes, hypertension, sinusitis, kidney disease,
  • drug abuse, e.g. acetylsalicylic acid, anabolic steroids, diuretics and antibiotics,
  • chemotherapy.
Flu can also "fall short of hearing"

Seasonal infections can also contribute to deteriorating hearing. How? The middle ear is connected to the nose and throat by the Eustachian tube. This means that when we yawn or swallow, the Eustachian tube opens to equalize the pressure on both sides of the eardrum. This protects the diaphragm against damage. When we have an infection (cold or flu), the Eustachian tube may be clogged with mucus. Frequent infections over the years can cause hearing impairment or loss.

How hearing ages: audiological examination

Audiological examination, i.e. hearing test, is not obligatory. Therefore, you need to ask for a referral from your GP or book a private appointment.

The test is carried out by an audiologist, a doctor who diagnoses and treats hearing disorders. First, the audiologist will carefully examine the ears. He may also ask for help with the test, such as blocking the nose and blowing air at the same time. Then you have to enter a special cabin and put on your headphones. The patient's task is to react to what he hears and answer the audiologist's questions.

Only hearing tests up to 20 kHz (and not only in the range up to 8 kHz) and oto-emission tests are able to exclude or confirm hidden hearing loss (damaged auditory nerve) or sudden loss of hearing cells. Both types of damage contribute to neuronal noise (tinnitus).

On the basis of the audiogram obtained, the doctor determines how severe the hearing loss is, what exactly it is (there may be many causes) and in which part of the ear the defect occurs.

In the advanced stage of hearing loss, a hearing aid is used.

When is the hearing aid at the National He alth Fund?

NHF refunds hearing aids (if the hearing loss is bilateral, then for both ears) to people over 26 once every five years. The surcharge is PLN 700, provided that the hearing loss in the hearing aid exceeds 40 decibels. Market prices of cameras range from several hundred zlotys to approx. 15 thousand zlotys. PLN.

Hearing aging: what harms the ears?

There are many factors that damage hearing and which, unfortunately, are found in the modern worldthey are very difficult to avoid. These include:

  • NOISE.Sounds that can cause a deafening, sharp acoustic trauma include a firearm, lightning strike or jet take-off. These are not sounds that most of us would be exposed to on a daily basis, so chronic acoustic trauma is a greater risk. The habit of listening to music aloud, especially with earplug headphones, lowers sound sensitivity and gradually blunts your hearing. The auditory receptors are damaged and the ossicles are micro-injured. These, defending themselves against damage, grow overgrown with additional cartilage and stop moving. Consequently, they cannot transmit the sound wave to the brain. And the thicker the cartilage layer, the worse the hearing. However, not only fans of loud music are losing their hearing. Everyone is affected. The number of people who are losing their hearing due to excessive noise is growing at an alarming rate. The sense of hearing is constantly stimulated by the sounds of phones, cars, and the noise of devices in the home and office.
  • TOXIC SUBSTANCES.Their list is long - from heavy metals (industrial areas), through carbon monoxide disulfide (urban smog), to tobacco smoke. Smokers are much more likely to suffer from hearing loss or damage than non-smokers. With each inhalation, they draw highly toxic substances into the lungs and distribute them throughout the body. Some of these compounds exhibit ototoxic properties, i.e. they damage hearing.
  • UNHEALTHY DIET . Excess s alt in food leads to constriction of blood vessels and increase in pressure, which in turn is directly related to the intensity of noise. Excess glucose or its irregular supply (long breaks between meals) affect the condition of neurons. Another ingredient that is dangerous for hearing is saturated fats and particularly dangerous trans fats. They raise the level of triglycerides in the blood, which can lead to atherosclerosis. It, in turn, causes less blood to flow to the middle ear, and its proper circulation is essential there to constantly flush out toxins and keep the hearing cells he althy.
  • NO MOVEMENT.A sedentary lifestyle can lead to the same hearing loss and tinnitus as a three-hour 120 dB concert. The heart produces an enzyme that is important for the inner ear and labyrinth - atrial natriuretic peptide. It regulates the blood supply to these parts of the ear. Thus, too low a level of movement leads to a low production in the heart of said peptide. On the other hand - toostrenuous exercise after a stressful day at work can cost your body too much energy. And the consequence will be, for example, deterioration of hearing. If the training is long or hard, and the body does not have the resources to adapt, it looks for energy in its reserves, e.g. metabolism slows down, and thus limits the blood supply to most organs, including sensory ones. In this way, we can lead to ischemia of the inner ear, hearing loss and nervous system noise. So strenuous training is better done on a day that was not full of stress.
  • RANDOM AND OTHER ACCIDENTSThe highly branched structure of neurons in the brain is not only very sensitive to noise, but can also be affected by a strong blow to the head (even when playing football ) or changes in the level of blood hormones, especially estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin.

Category:

Geriatrics