Hearing Loss

Introduction

Hearing loss is a common problem caused by noise, disease, aging, illness, and genetics. General signs of hearing loss occurs suddenly and develops gradually that includes asking people to repeat themselves, listening to music or television with a higher volume than required. There are two main types of hearing loss depending on where the problem lies they are conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss.

Treatment

Sensorineural is caused by damage to the auditory nerve that occurs naturally with age. There are several options that help to improve a person’s ability to hear and communicate which includes digital hearing aids, cochlear implants, middle ear implants, bone anchored implants, wireless devices, etc. The 35delG mutation was detected in 11/ 712 unrelated blood donors.

Statistics
 

The prevalence of hearing loss among Navy personnel was 31.4 %. The work exposure variables: years of work in the Navy, years on vessel(s) in the Navy and years of sailing in the Navy were associated with reduced hearing after adjusting for age, gender and otitis as an adult. Among the work exposure variables, years of sailing in the Navy was the strongest predictor of reduced hearing, and significantly reduced hearing was found at the frequencies 1,000, 3,000 and 4,000 Hz.