Thursday, June 15, 2017

How do over-the-counter hearing loss aids fare?   by Katherine Bouton
A new study finds that hearing aids, whether from an audiologist or bought over the counter, can help older adults with hearing loss — although those who receive professional help with fit and instruction may have a better outcome. 
The six-week Indiana University study, published in the March issue of American Journal of Audiology, compared outcomes among three groups of patients: one that got a hearing aid that included the services of an audiologist; one that followed an over-the-counter process, choosing a preprogrammd device — in actuality, the same high-end digital pair as the first group — but without a fitting; and a control group that got a professional fitting for a placebo hearing aid that had no amplification. 
The subjects were 154 adults, ages 55 to 79, with mild to moderate hearing loss. The researchers compared benefits, including user satisfaction and usage of hearing aids after six weeks.
The researchers found that hearing aids helped both the audiologist group and the OTC group — an important finding that provides “firm evidence that hearing aids do, in fact, provide significant benefit to older adults,” lead author Larry Humes, a professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, said in a news release. 
However, the OTC group was less satisfied with the hearing aids and less likely to purchase them after the trial. About 55 percent of the OTC participants said they were likely to purchase their hearing aids after the trial vs. 81 percent for the audiologist group.
Interestingly, satisfaction significantly increased for patients in the OTC group who opted to continue with an audiologist for a four-week follow-up period after the main trial. More of them also opted to purchase their hearing aids after this added time after initially saying they would not.
Making OTC hearing aids more accessible is a goal of a bill recently introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) authorizing the sale of OTC hearing aids for mild to moderate loss. In an article in JAMA, they wrote: “Increasing access to innovative, low-cost hearing technologies must be part of the policy response to the untreated hearing loss now experienced by millions of Americans.” 
The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) also supports the Warren-Grassley bill and issued a call to action to its members to support it. Many members of HLAA have severe to profound hearing loss and would not be candidates for an OTC aid, but as the HLAA statement put it, improving service at the basic end encourages innovative technologies for all types of hearing loss. In addition, the introduction of lower-cost hearing aids and competitive pricing may help bring the cost of all hearing aids down.
Audiologists who are concerned that OTC hearing aids will put them out of business should take comfort in the study’s findings about the benefits of best practices in audiology. If audiologists get behind OTC hearing aids, it could mean hundreds of thousands more patients needing their services. 
This would be good for people with hearing loss, and good for audiologists. And if hearing-aid manufactures get into the low-cost hearing business, it will be good for them as well. The study by Humes and colleagues shows that nobody really has anything to lose by encouraging innovation and competition in hearing aids. 

Monday, February 6, 2017

The Ingredients for Depression Include Hearing Loss

Depression is a medical condition that affects you physically as well as psychologically, and is often the result of multiple contributing factors. While anyone who has read up on the condition will find some of these (anxiety, stress, isolation) familiar, one ingredient in the depression “stew” is often missed — hearing loss.

Contributing factors to hearing loss and depression

Millions of Americans suffer from a depressive disorder at some point in their lives due to one or a combination of the following contributors:
  • Biochemical imbalances
  • Genetic tendencies
  • Sleep apnea and related disorders
  • Alcohol and/or drug abuse
Three additional factors can occur independently, but are sometimes brought on or worsened by untreated hearing loss.

Chronic medical conditions

Hearing loss isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s a permanent medical condition that is likely to worsen with age. Like any chronic condition, it affects your ability to enjoy life to the fullest. It can leave you feeling older than you are and disconnected from the outside world as you struggle to keep up with conversations or to hear sounds you used to enjoy, like music. You might make verbal gaffes because you misunderstood what someone just said, leading to embarrassing moments. If you’re still in the workforce, these misunderstandings or completely missed words can threaten your career. Hearing loss is a life-altering occurrences, and just like any untreated (or untreatable) disability, put you at greater risk of becoming depressed.

Social isolation

Hearing loss can make you want to avoid social situations rather than deal with the weariness of straining to hear and keep up with conversations. A night out surrounded by crowds and noise at parties or busy restaurants becomes a chore you’d rather skip. Even in more private surroundings, unsupportive people in your life might talk around you at family gatherings, leaving you feeling ignored and unwanted. But avoiding communication and the support of family and friends significantly increases your likelihood of developing depression.

Sadness/anxiety/stress

Losing the ability to enjoy the sounds you used to take for granted, such as music, nature, and your loved ones’ voices, can leave you experiencing grief, loneliness, deprivation — all variations of sadness. As for anxiety and stress, they can become disorders in their own right. If you’re working outside the home, your hearing loss can make you feel anxious at work that you’ve missed a direction from your boss or misunderstood something important at a meeting. Straining to hear all day at work, home. or in social situations is also stressful (e.g., worrying you might miss an important call because you can’t hear the phone). Living in a constant state of sadness, anxiety, and/or stress unhealthy for many reasons, including upping your risk of depression.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Keeping Your Pets and Kids Safe

Hearing aids and batteries can attract pets and small children

One thing young children and pets have in common is that they like to explore the world with their mouths. For pets, hearing aids may appear to be tempting toys, especially if they are left on and whistling. To very young kids, a pair of modern-day, brightly colored hearing aids or button-sized hearing aid batteries might look like candy.

Hearing aid batteries can be deadly if swallowed

More likely than not, an accidentally swallowed hearing aid battery will pass through an animal or a child’s digestive system whole, and generally poses no danger. But serious problems can occur if the battery lodges in the esophagus, or if the pet or child has bitten into the battery. The leaked chemicals from the battery can seriously burn the esophagus.  If not treated in a timely manner, swallowing a hearing aid battery can be life-threatening.

Hearing aids are expensive to replace

Thankfully these medical emergencies are rare.  Nevertheless, almost every hearing care professional can tell you about patients who brought in a hearing aid broken into tiny pieces that they wrestled out of their dogs’ mouths. Even if the damaged aid is within the warranty period, it could still cost hundreds of dollars to replace.
The best place to store hearing aids and batteries are in drawers or cabinets with doors that pets and small children cannot reach. Many people like to keep their hearing aids on the bathroom counter-top or bedroom dresser. But hearing aids or batteries left on such open surfaces can be accidentally knocked onto the floor where they become targets for curious pets and toddlers. It’s also important to keep them far away from spaces where you keep foods and medication in order to prevent confusion. Even adults have been known to accidentally pop a hearing aid in their mouth instead of the nut or candy they intended.
Just as you would keep your cleaning supplies and other dangerous household items away from young children and pets, hearing aids and batteries should also be carefully stored to prevent dangerous accidents, as well as avoidable expenses. Also, don’t discard your used hearing aid batteries in trash cans where animals could get to them. When it comes to hearing aids, the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure definitely holds true.