Understanding hearing loss and the many good options available to treat it
Half of all people in their 60s have some hearing loss, and most people in their 80s have significant loss. No wonder UMRA’s October 19 workshop on Hearing, Healthy Aging, and OTC Hearing Aids drew well over 100 attendees.
Meredith Adams, MD, explained the anatomy of hearing, which relies on hair cells sensing sound. Once we lose those hair cells, we can’t get them back (yet, researchers are working on it).
Age-related hearing loss is affected by noise, health, medications, and genetics. Protecting your ears from loud noise is beneficial, and research into the benefits of diet and exercise looks promising.
Cochlear implants can improve hearing at all ages, although sound perception may differ slightly from natural hearing.
Shockingly, only 30 percent of people who would benefit from hearing aids actually use them.
Peggy Nelson, PhD, shared the new world of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. OTC aids make it easier for those with mild loss to try hearing aids. Most people find satisfaction and benefit from them. But both Nelson and Adams recommended seeing an audiologist or other medical professional first to help identify your individual needs.
If you missed this workshop or want to see it again with closed captions, watch the Event recording (link below). When the video starts to play, click on the CC icon to reveal the audio transcript.
You can see the many resources referenced in the two presentations in the video, and by viewing the Event slides (links below).
—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair
Hearing, healthy aging, and OTC hearing aids
Tue, September 19 2023, 11am
Meredith E. Adams, MD MS
Associate Professor and Chief
Division of Otology and Neurotology
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Via Zoom.
Hearing loss is a major area of interest to the UMRA membership, and we are fortunate to have a team of University of Minnesota experts in this area to present our first Living Well Workshop for UMRA’s 2023–24 program year, on September 19.
Meredith E. Adams, MD, is chief of the Division of Otology and Neurotology in the Medical School. Peggy Nelson, PhD, is professor of audiology in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and newly appointed associate dean for social sciences in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Together, they will discuss hearing, healthy aging, and new developments in over-the-counter hearing aids.
Professor Nelson served as the inaugural director of the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science in CLA from 2015 to 2022. During 2021–22, she also served as interim department chair for the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies (now Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures). She has been a recipient of federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research for her work on hearing loss and hearing devices.
Nelson also serves the greater Minnesota community of persons with hearing loss as a governor’s appointee at large on the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing.
Dr. Adams completed her undergraduate studies, medical education, residency, and fellowship at the University of Michigan and earned an MS in clinical research at the University of Minnesota. Her clinical practice focuses on the medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the ear, including hearing loss and cochlear implants. Her highly collaborative research program is focused on improving the diagnosis and management of ear diseases through clinical and health services research, novel hearing implant development, and the study of human otopathology.
Adams has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, and foundations. She serves on the Otology and Neurotology Education Committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.
Please register today for this free Zoom webinar at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19. If you would like to submit a question in advance by email, you can do that when you register for the workshop.
—Frank Cerra, MD, UMRA Program Committee