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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 2019 WWW. UNWLA .ORG 33 SOUND ADVICE by Ihor Magun, MD, FACP The sense of hearing in medical literature is r e- ferred to as the “mechanoreceptive sense . ” This simply means the ear responds to mechanical vi- brations of the sound waves in the air. The entire process seems to be quite simple and straightfor- ward. The ear receives sound waves via the exter- nal and middle ear and amplifies the sound to fa- cilitate the next step to pass into the inner ear. The eardrum serves as an impedan ce mechanism im- proving the transfer of sound in the air to the fluid filled inner ear. There are several causes of hearing loss: Genetic This accounts for more than half of childhood hearing impairments and can manifest not only in childhood years but l ater in life. Presbycusis This is age - related hearing loss and is the most common cause in adults Acquired This may be due to recurre nt or se- vere ear infection, use of medications that are toxic to the ear and noise - induced hearing loss. Despite what many people may assume, hearing loss is one of the most common sensory disorder s in humans and can occur at any age. H earing impairment i s associated with significant loss in clarity , which progresses to difficulty in un- derstanding speech in noisy environments. The early stages of changes in hearing are character- ized by the loss of ability to hear high frequency. With p rogression, the heari ng loss expands to all frequencies. The most frightening documented fact related to this disorder is that modern technol- ogy is slowly damaging hearing in all age groups. Obviously there are other causes of hearing losses ( trauma, tumor s , etc.,) but those c auses are be- yond the scope of this article. The main point here is that t here has been a direct correlation between the effects of loud noises generated by all elec- tronic devices and premature hearing loss. The ef- fects are very subtle in the early stages a nd gradu- ally progress over years without any outright dis- comfort or pain. So how and why do es this hap- pen? Many individuals wear devices like silenc- ing headphones in an attempt to literally drown out background noise and listen to a pl aylist at quite a hig h volume, which can exceed 120 deci- bels, a level comparable to that made by a plane leaving a runway. The marketing industry is pro- moting these devices with the intention to achieve the “full sensory experience.” Gradual hearing loss i s the ultimate price that is paid for this experience . Other costs are related to alleviating the problem. Hearing aids are quite helpful , but they are costly . Moreover, technology has not kept up with the complexity of the human ear. H earing aids of the f uture will improve an d will be linked to a smartphone or computer with apps that will change settings automatically based on input from the environment. In addition, promising research is being conducted on grow ing inner - ear tissues from stem cells. Anothe r potential antidote that may prevent hearing loss is g enetic editing ; exper- imental research on this is currently being con- ducted on mice . But d espite all the possible and probable progress , we are nowhere near perfecting a hearing device that matches the complexity of the hu man ear and the world around us is not going to be quiet. The good news is that a good third of perma- nent hearing loss is preventable , but this requires exercising caution and self - control — it is impera- tive to be proactive an d literally turn down the vol- ume because t his may be the only noise level we have under our control. I hope the information in this article en- courages you to pay more attention to volume and s hare this advice with those who may not be aware of the environmental dangers that can lead to per- manent hearing damage. Hopefully, the people you share this information with will hear you! Let us all enjoy the beauty of sound with our own ears for as long as we can. ________________________________________________________________________ The ear is the only true writer and the only true reader . - Robert Frost Blindness separates us from things, but deafness separates us from people . - Helen Keller
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