Presbycusis, (Age-related hearing loss) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Presbycusis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

"I do not know whether you have encountered this.
I often hear shouting matches between an old patient and his children who are asking the questions to the patient that I am trying to get a history from.
That is due to aged related hearing loss called Presbycusis."

Presbycusis or Age-related hearing loss is the slow loss of hearing that happens as people get older.
Presbycusis is a progressive, normally bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss that happens in older people as they age.
It is a multi-factorial process because of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
It can range from bothersome to severely disabling in its effects.
In moderate-to-severe cases it can induce the older person to become isolated and depressed, and may considerably become worse as an age-related disability/cognitive impairment and dementia.
It is importantly correctable using rehabilitative measures and its successful treatment can largely improve quality of life for the older patient.
The majority of those who would benefit from hearing aids does not go for evaluation or use them when provided.

Causes
Tiny hair cells inside the inner ear assist the patient to hear.
They pick up sound waves and change them into the nerve signals that the brain interprets as sound.
Hearing loss happens when the tiny hair cells are injured or die.
There is no known sole and specific cause of age-related hearing loss.
Most often, it is produced by changes in the inner ear that happen as the patient grows older.
The genes and loud noise may play a large part.
These factors add to age-related hearing loss:
1.Family history
2.Repeated exposure to loud noises
3.Smoking
4.Certain medical disorders, such as diabetes
5.Certain medicines such as chemotherapy
Intrinsic factors are:
1.Neuronal loss
2.Loss of cochlear outer hair cells
3.Atrophy of the highly vascular stria in the lateral cochlear wall
4.Oxidative stress causing DNA mutation and damage
5.Inflammation
6.Metabolic and systemic disease
Extrinsic factors are:
1.Noise
2.Ototoxic medicine
3.Diet

Symptoms
Loss of hearing often happens slowly over time.
1.Difficulty hearing people around the patient
2.Often asking people to repeat themselves
3.Frustration at not being able to hear
4.Certain sounds seeming overly loud

Diagnosis
The doctor will use an instrument called an otoscope to look in the ears.
Occasionally, earwax can obstruct the ear canals and cause hearing loss.
Hearing tests can help find out the extent of hearing loss
Pure tone audiometry verifies the diagnosis.
Hearing is tested over a variety of pure tones in each ear.
Frequencies differ from low pitches (250 Hz) to high pitches (8,000 Hz).
It assesses the threshold for air and bone conduction and can find out whether it is due to conductive or sensorineural loss, or mixed.

Treatment
There is no cure for age-related hearing loss.
Treatment is directed on improving the everyday function.
These may be helpful:
Hearing aids
1.Telephone amplifiers and other assistive devices
2.Sign language (severe hearing loss)
3.Speech reading (lip reading)
A cochlear implant may be advised for people with severe hearing loss
General treatment
Communication, courtesy and environmental noise manipulation
Reassurance and education
Assistive listening devices
1.Flashing light alarms
2.Vibrating alarm clocks
3.Amplified telephones
4.Teleconnectors for hearing aids
5.Frequency-modulation transmitters
6.Hearing aids -improve quality of life
7.Cochlear implants -Good outcomes reported for cochlear implants in presbycusis
8.Active middle-ear implants -still going through evaluation

TABLE OF CONTENT
Intro

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Sep 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463772638

Kenneth Kee

Dr. Kenneth Kee is a well-known medical doctor from Singapore who has been practicing medicine since 1972. He graduated from the University of Singapore and furthered his studies with a Master of Science in Health Management in 1991, followed by a Ph.D. in Healthcare Administration in 1993. Dr. Kee established Kee Clinic in 1974, located in the Holland Drive area of Singapore. The clinic has been a prominent feature of the community, offering general medical services for 5 decades. Dr Kee also served his country Singapore as a national service police Inspector at night from 1975 to 1985 while working at his clinic during the day. He had served as a police guard to the Woodland Petroleum Tanks at night during the Indonesian Confrontation period, took part in police rounds at night in the Beach Road area and taught First aid and emergency resuscitation to Police recruits. He received the Singapore Police Bicentennial 2020 Medallion on 1st March 2024 as recognition for his work in the Singapore Police. Even as he grew older, Dr. Kee continued to work actively in his clinic, although he eventually reduced his consultation hours. Beyond his medical career, Dr. Kee is also an author. He started writing about medical conditions in 2007, using blogs and other online platforms to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Over time, he published various books, many of which provide simple and accessible guides to different health conditions. His works include "A Family Doctor's Tale," "My Personal Singapore History," and numerous medical guides, available through platforms like Amazon. His books often combine his personal experiences as a family doctor with insights into Singapore's healthcare system and history. Dr. Kee has written extensively on health topics, contributing to both medical literature and general knowledge resources. Dr. Kenneth Kee has written numerous books, primarily focused on health education and personal experiences as a family doctor. Some of his notable titles include: "A Family Doctor's Tale" This book is a blend of Dr. Kee's personal experiences and his reflections on being a family doctor in Singapore. It's a great choice if you're looking for a narrative that combines both medical knowledge and human stories. "Specialized Medical Conditions" Books like **"Congestive Heart Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment"** focus on specific conditions, offering in-dept...

Book preview

Presbycusis,

(Age-related hearing loss)

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2018 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Presbycusis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Presbycusis)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Presbycusis

I do not know whether you have encountered this.

I often hear shouting matches between an old patient and his children who are asking the questions to the patient that I am trying to get a history from.

That is due to aged related hearing loss called Presbycusis.

What is Presbycusis?

Presbycusis or Age-related hearing loss is the slow loss of hearing that happens as people get older.

Presbycusis is a progressive, normally bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss that happens in older people as they age.

It is a multi-factorial process because of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

It can range from bothersome to severely disabling in its effects.

In moderate-to-severe cases it can induce the older person to become isolated and depressed, and may considerably become worse as an age-related disability/cognitive impairment and dementia.

It is importantly correctable using rehabilitative measures and its successful treatment can largely improve quality of life for the older patient.

The majority of those who would benefit from hearing aids does not go for evaluation or use them when provided.

Screening by elderly care specialists and primary care doctors, with referral for proper therapy, can make a positive and real change to the lives of older people.

What are the causes of Presbycusis?

Causes

Tiny hair cells inside the inner