Technological advances being made in hearing aids


Technological advances being made in hearing aids

Recently, I interviewed Jean Deiss, audiologist with the Veterans Affairs Health Care System, with regard to Hearing Awareness Month, which falls in November.

The occasion for this interview was a Davis Community Access Television show devoted to hearing loss.

There are other awareness months, related to this vital area of concern. May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. October is usually National Protect Your Hearing Month.

I think hearing loss is worth our attention throughout the calendar year.

Veterans are vulnerable to noise-induced hearing loss. Jean explained to our audience that improvised explosive devices – roadside bombs – have taken a toll, even on younger veterans.

Anyone who served in the military will realize that the results of what we call “acoustic trauma” may vary. Hearing loss is a big part, as is tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.

Consider that only one in five people with significant hearing loss are even being treated. The waiting period, on average, is seven years before a person with hearing loss seeks assistance.

Jean explained her expertise in assessing both hearing loss and tinnitus, an area that she specifically addresses through her VA program. Although we do not have curative therapy for these problems, treatments are improving rapidly.

Hearing aid technology has expanded from the clunky analog devices of the 1970s, plagued with feedback and other problems, to sophisticated modern hearing aids that may be behind the ear, or even in the ear. Digital technology has given us unexpected benefits, including Bluetooth connectivity.

Modern hearing aids are often rechargeable.

Technology is rendering modern devices increasingly sophisticated, and ever less conspicuous. Future technology will likely build on molecular biology in ways we can hardly imagine.

For example, there is interest in so-called “gene therapy” to recreate the inner ear hair cells that are damaged by acoustic trauma.

As Jean pointed out, however, audiologists must also perform sophisticated testing to exclude other correctable causes of hearing loss, such as the conductive loss seen with damage to middle-ear structures.

Moreover, repairing hair cells would not necessarily correct damage to the neurological systems that transmit hearing to the brain.

Hearing loss can accelerate the sense of social isolation that many elders experience. Correcting hearing loss may be a cornerstone of treatment for conditions causing cognitive decline among the elderly.

Overcoming denial, however, remains a challenge.

For younger readers, consider how you can safeguard your hearing. Isn’t it better to prevent the loss of hearing acuity, which leads us to feel frustrated and isolated in our golden years?

Traditional hunter-gatherer cultures often lack the cacophonous noise of modern societies. We did not evolve to battle the sounds of leaf-blowers, automobiles, motorcycles and stereo systems. We evolved to hear breaking twigs.

We cannot turn back the hands of time. We can, however, take prudent precautions. If noise levels are noticeably loud, precluding easy conversation, we might consider using foam ear plugs.

Any work-related recommendations for hearing protection should be zealously adhered to.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, when it comes to hearing.

I confess that I am not optimistic about the direction in which our society is heading with respect to preventing hearing loss.

My personal exposure to loud noises is perhaps loudest on the freeway or at my local fitness center.

I sometimes feel that any battle against noise exposure is a losing proposition. I do not want to become the aging person scolding everyone around me who enjoys the roar of a motorcycle or the throbbing beat of a car stereo.

All I can do is try my best to minimize my exposure risk. When these efforts fail, thank goodness for modern technology, audiologists and ear-nose-and-throat specialists.

Scott Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. ([email protected]) is a clinical professor at the University of California, Davis Medical School. This column is informational and does not constitute medical advice.




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