Nearly 466 million people are hearing impaired, are you concerned about your hearing health?

According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, there are approximately 466 million people in the world who are hearing impaired. Among the countries with the most hearing impaired, China is also among them. Currently, nearly 27.8 million people in China have hearing impairments, and only 5% of them use hearing aids. Untreated hearing loss can cause great restrictions on lifestyle. Patients with severe hearing loss cannot communicate with others, leading to separation from society and more isolation. It may even cause some more lasting consequences, such as underlying diseases, such as dementia. How should we avoid and deal with hearing loss?

 

 

Causes of hearing loss

There are many factors that cause hearing loss. Such as bad living habits, ototoxic drugs, genetics, infections and various diseases. Infections during pregnancy may cause abnormal development of the baby’s hearing organs; in some remote areas due to limited conditions or delayed education, the use of ototoxic drugs may cause hearing loss in both ears; in addition, unhealthy lifestyles such as staying up late for a long time and high-fat diet , Wearing headphones for a long time is also a high risk factor for hearing loss. The number of people deaf due to environmental noise pollution and accidents is gradually increasing.

 

 

The hazards of hearing loss

A hearing test as early as possible can rule out hearing problems. If the hearing test shows a slight hearing loss, or at an early stage, it may remind you that you need to pay attention to your daily listening environment, daily life, and your overall health needs to be adjusted. Early detection of problems can prevent further hearing loss.

 

If the hearing problem is ignored in the early stage, it may continue to aggravate and cause an irreversible state. At this time, adjusting your lifestyle or overall health may not work. People with hearing loss will gradually tend to be alone and close themselves due to communication barriers. If this happens in the long term, their mental health will be affected and the risk of depression will increase.

 

Studies have shown that elderly people with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia than those with normal hearing. Elderly people with hearing loss are unwilling to communicate with society, leading to functional degradation of the brain's information processing and cognitive abilities; it is difficult to recognize and understand sounds, or there are problems in the brain area responsible for processing language and cognition. Therefore, if the hearing loss is not found through the hearing test in time, the risk of developing dementia will be greatly increased.

 

 

What should I do if I have hearing loss

If you have hearing loss, you must go to a professional eye institution or hospital for relevant examinations and timely intervention in order to improve your quality of life. The hospital first needs to judge the type of hearing loss for the patient. According to different causes, hearing loss can be divided into three categories: sensorineural, conductive, and mixed hearing loss; according to the degree of hearing loss, it can be divided into mild, moderate, severe and extremely severe hearing loss. For different types, different treatment plans are adopted.

 

Treatment options include drugs and hearing reconstruction surgery. With the continuous development of science and technology, medical technology is also changing day by day. For example, for patients with severe and very severe sensorineural hearing loss, there are hearing aids and/or cochlear implants; for conductive and mixed hearing loss, there are implanted bone conduction hearing aids.