Age-related hearing loss or presbycusis

Abstract

Aging is a natural consequence of a society developing process. Although many adults retain good hearing as they aging, hearing loss related with age-presbycusis which can vary in severity from mild to substantial is common among elderly persons. There are a number of pathophysiological processes underlying age-related changes in the auditory system as well as in the central nervous systems. Many studies have been dedicated to the illustration of risk factors accumulating presbycusis such as heritability, environment factors, medical conditions, free radical (reactive oxygen species, ROS) and damage of mitochondrial DNA. Left untreated, presbycusis can not only lead sufferers to reduced quality of life, isolation, dependence and frustration, but also affect the healthy people around. These can be partly corrected using hearing aids, but it is not enough, more and more strategies of treatment based on the findings associating with presbycusis should be added rather than using single hearing aids. We review here the pathophysiology; heritability, susceptibility genes and other risk factors including environmental, medical, especially free radical (ROS) and damage of mitochondrial DNA; and some strategies of treatment, as well as promising rehabilitations associating with presbycusis.

Prevalence and factors influencing sensorineural hearing loss among type II diabetes mellitus patients

“…9,10 Sensory hair cell loss and cochlea neuron loss at the basal turns are thought to be responsible for presbyacusis. 11 Nakae et al made similar observations in an animal model of diabetes mellitus. 12 High frequency hearing impairment is associated with difficulties understanding speech and thus impacting negatively on ones life.…”

Wahrnehmung von Hörproblemen bei älteren Menschen

“…Die erworbene Hörbeeinträchtigung ist ein häufig auftretendes Phänomen im zunehmenden Alter [2]. Definiert wird Altersschwerhörigkeit als ein symmetrisch progressiver und degenerativer Hörver-lust in zunehmenden Alter [5,6].…”

“…Bei Verringerung der Hörfähigkeit erlebt der Mensch jedoch eine verzerrte Klangwahrnehmung sowie Kommunikationsprobleme [1]. Diese Höreinbuße ist verbunden mit abnehmendem psychosozialem Wohlbefinden [2], Isolation [3] und kognitiven Beeinträchtigungen [4].…”

Genome-wide association analysis demonstrates the highly polygenic character of age-related hearing impairment

“…1 Heritability studies have shown that the sources of this variance are both genetic and environmental, with approximately half of the variance attributable to hereditary factors. 2 Only a limited number of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been performed up to now. The first GWAS into ARHI reported an association between ARHI and SNPs within the GRM7 gene.…”