View Tag: ‘Aging’
Volume 12
What’s New about Getting Older
Beyond improving communication, it is imperative to position hearing healthcare in the broader context of healthy aging because there are important links between hearing health and many physical, mental, and social aspects.
Hearing Health and Cognitive Health: Ten Things That People Who Are Hard of Hearing Should Know
Over the last four decades, research has shown that there are connections between hearing and cognition in older adults. Over the last few years, research has turned to some important questions. What reasons explain why hearing loss and cognitive decline or dementia seem to be connected? If they are connected by a known cause, then could treatments for hearing loss reduce cognitive decline or dementia? If another cause affects both hearing and cognition, then could treatments for their common cause protect both hearing health and cognitive health? Here are ten things that people who are hard of hearing should know about what we know so far about the answers to these questions. These points will be expanded in future articles.
Volume 11
How Well Do People with Early Onset Hearing Loss Age?
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down for a conversation with a late middle-aged neighbour who has lived with hearing loss since childhood. The conversation gave me some new insights into the differences between how aging adults adjust to late-onset hearing loss and how adults with early-onset hearing loss adjust to aging.
Vision Loss as a New Potentially Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia
The addition of vision as a new potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia is important for audiologists because many older adults with hearing loss also have vision loss. Reduced opportunities for multisensory integration and cross-modal compensation must be considered in all aspects of hearing care: screening, assessment, recommending technologies, and providing counselling or communication training.
To the Brain and Back: A Potential Role for GABA in Speech-In-Noise Perception and Aging
Audiologists frequently receive complaints from older adults with hearing loss about their difficulty understanding speech in noise (SIN). As the brain ages, there are changes to its structure and function that could impede a listener’s ability to separate speech features from background noise. What are these changes, and how does this knowledge inform audiological practice?
Age Adjustment in Audiometric Tests: Updated Results and Interpretations
Age adjustment is intended to represent the typical longitudinal hearing changes associated with age. In the US, age adjustments are not recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) or permitted by the Department of Defense. They are optional for workers within the scope of the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) (i.e., general industry) and other regulatory bodies.
Volume 10
Views of Aging: Positive Beliefs and Attitudes Matter for Hearing and Other Health Issues
One of the most perplexing epidemiological statistics for audiologist is that only about 1 in 5 people with audiometric hearing loss who might benefit from amplification use hearing aids. How can audiologists improve hearing care for older adults?
What About Sex, Gender, Hearing, and Aging?
CanadianAudiologist.ca is pleased to welcome Dr. Kathy Pichora-Fuller as our new columnist. Her column “What’s new about getting older?” will delve into all aspects of ageing and hearing ranging from health policy developments to neurophysical research on the aging auditory brain.
Volume 9
Mysteries of the Hearing Brain: Aging and Cochlear Implants
Although never directly involved in cochlear implant fittings, Samira Anderson’s practice changed dramatically when cochlear implantation became a viable solution for many patients.
Volume 6
Decreased Temporal Processing and Aging
Hearing problems in older people may not be related to audibility but rather to the decreased temporal processing that accompanies aging.