What is the age-related hearing loss?

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Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is the loss of hearing that gradually occurs in most folks as we get older. it's one in every of the most common conditions affecting older and senior adults.

Approximately one in three people within the united states between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-four have hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than seventy-five have a problem hearing. Having trouble hearing will create it hard to understand and follow a doctor's advice, respond to warnings, and listen to phones, doorbells, and smoke alarms. Hearing loss can even make it arduous to enjoy talking with family and friends, leading to feelings of isolation.

Age-related hearing loss most frequently occurs in both ears, affecting them equally. as a result of the loss is gradual, if you have got age-related hearing loss you'll not realize that you have lost some of your ability to hear.

There are several causes of age-related hearing loss. most ordinarily, it arises from changes within the inner ear as we age, however it can even result from changes within the middle ear, or from complicated changes on the nerve systems from the ear to the brain. Certain medical conditions and medications might also play a role.


How do we hear?

Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves within the air into electrical signals. 
Sound waves enter the outer ear and travel through a slim passageway referred to as the ear canal, which results in the eardrum
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The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and sends these vibrations to a few tiny bones within the middle ear. These bones are referred to as the malleus, incus, and stapes.

The bones within the middle ear couple the sound vibrations from the air to fluid vibrations in the cochlea of the internal ear, that is shaped like a snail and filled with fluid. an elastic partition runs from the beginning to the tip of the cochlea, splitting it into a higher and lower part. This partition is called the basilar membrane as a result of it is the base, or ground floor, on which key hearing structures sit.

Once the vibrations cause the fluid within the cochlea to ripple, traveling waveforms on the basilar membrane. Hair cells-sensory cells sitting on prime of the basilar membrane-ride the wave.

As the hair cells grow, microscopic hair-like projections (known as stereocilia) that stay on top of the hair cells bump against an overlying structure and bend. Bending causes pore-like channels, that are at the guidelines of the stereocilia, to open up. once that happens, chemicals rush into the cells, making an electrical signal.

The auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, that turns it into a sound that we tend to recognize and understand.

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Why we lose hearing as we get older?

Many factors will contribute to hearing loss as you develop. It is often tough to distinguish age-related hearing loss from hearing loss which will occur for different reasons, like long-term exposure to noise.

Noise-induced hearing loss is caused by long exposure to sounds that are either too loud or last too long. this type of noise exposure will damage the hair cells in your ear that permit you to listen to. Once these hair cells are damaged, they do not grow back and your ability to listen to is diminished.

Conditions that are more common in older people, like high blood pressure or diabetes, will contribute to deafness. Medications that are toxic to the sensory cells in your ears (for example, some therapy drugs) can even cause hearing loss.

Rarely, age-related hearing loss is often caused by abnormalities of the external organ or tympanic cavity. Such abnormalities could embrace reduced operate of the eardrum (the eardrum) or reduced operate of the 3 small bones within the middle ear that carry sound waves from the eardrum to the internal ear.

Most older people that expertise deafness has a mixture of each age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss.

Can I prevent age-related hearing loss?

At this point, scientists don't know the way to prevent age-related hearing loss. However, you'll protect yourself from noise-induced hearing loss by protecting your ears from sounds that are too loud and last too long. it is vital to remember potential sources of damaging noises, like loud music, firearms, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, and leaf blowers.

Avoiding loud noises, reducing the number of times you are exposed to loud noise, and protecting your ears with earplugs or earmuffs are simple things you will do to protect your hearing.