Hearing
On a pretty regular basis I will come across an article or some research that makes a GREAT point, or brings out something new, but isnt quite written in regular, conversational english. Nothing personal, but sometimes I think medical authors use a lot of Latin because they had to learn it so by golly they're going to inflict it on the rest of us. What follows is an example of that. I could have spent the day wandering through this research and trying to refine it down and make it simpler to read, or post it and hope it stirs up some questions or ideas etc:
ON Open Access Hearing loss in osteogenesis imperfecta patients
Lai Thu Ha1*, Vu Chi Dung2 , Can Thi Bich Ngoc2 , Bui Phuong Thao2 , Nguyen Ngoc Khanh2 , Luong Hong Chau3 From 8th APPES Biennial Scientific Meeting Darwin, Australia.
29 October – 1 November 2014
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an inherited bone and connective tissue disorder associated with the lifelong occurrence of frequent fractures following even mild trauma. Hearing loss is frequently reported in patients with OI. Objective: to examine the ratio of hearing loss in children with OI, and the relationship between audiological findings and CT images of temporal bone in children with OI. Subject and methods: forty – two children aged 5 to 17 years with OI were included in the study. The patients have type A of tympano and were mesured thresold of hearing by play audiometry. CT imaging was performed in 8 cases as well. Imaging abnormalities were correlated with clinical phenotypes and severity of hearing loss deduced from audiograms. Results: Hearing loss of all etiologies was observed in 28.05 % of ears in studied OI patients. Sensorineural and mixed hearing loss was observed in 4.88% and conductive hearing loss was detected in 23.17% of ears. CT revealed bone – bridge image in the middle ear (10/16 ears), hypodense foci in the fissula ante fenestram (4/16 ears) and cochlear (2/16 ears), abnormal stape ( 5/16 ears). Conclusions: hearing loss in children with osteogenesis imperfecta is quite frequent. We have all type of hearing loss, but the conductive of hearing loss have highest ratio. The site of abnormal on temporal bone CT images in OI corresponds to presence and type of hearing loss determined by audiometry.
Authors’ details 1Otolaryngology department, National Hospital of Pediatrics, Hanoi, Vietnam. 2Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Genetics, National Hospital of Pediatrics, Hanoi, Vietnam. 3 Ear Department, Ear - Nose - Throat National Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam. Published: 28 April 2015
Now I bring this up now, because a few things recently fell into place in my world.
My dad was an Aviator in the USN for 20+ years and the fact that he seemed to be hard of hearing was just a "by product" of his service. So when he was in his 60s he finally gave in to my mothers numerous requests and had his hearing checked, and lo and behold he had a discrepancy of about 50% After arguing with the VA for about 6 years he was finally granted a pair of hearing aids that really improved his day to day living. Watching TV with my parents had actually become almost painful because he needed the volume so high and she needed to sit so close to the screen (we will avoid THAT dicsussion entirely thank you.)
My Doctors have always commented on my Blue Sclera, Type1 Quality its pretty common, however they also started taking about, when I was 17 or 18, that my inner ear hearing mechanisms were also blue in tint. Im sure theres a better word, but their talking about ear drum, hammer, anvil, etc. So it wasn't much of a surprise when our pediatrician commented about my sons in much thhe same way, the main difference being that he started seeing this about age 3, not 17.
Today, due to all the great research that has been published we can suggest that the blue color comes from the same sourse as the blue sclera, that being that the 'bone' itself is too thin and therefore reflects light along the blue spectrum. Thats all fine and good, but I personally hadnt made any connection between that and hearing loss. For exmple, Dad had massive hearing loss, he was an Aviator, my brother, same type and subtype, didnt seem to have any loss, and in my case my mid range has been poor since just after High School, but my highs and lows were actually much more sensitive than the average.
Personally I have always attributed that to the fact that I did a lot of Roadie and sound work for a Heavy Metal Club in the late 80s and early 90s. Wall of Marshalls is amazing, and you can hear the bass in your chest, but its probably not the best thing for continued good hearing health. So when people suggested my conversational hearing may need some help. But since it didn't seem to effect my personal crowd, I've never tried to resolve it.
Along the same idea when my son started "not hearing me" (ignoring parental advice)when he entered his teens I just felt it was typical selective hearing all teenagers seem to have. Additionally I did point out to my son that when I was a teen, my dad suggested something he had learned when he was a teenager. He stuttered, just as I did, and often times he was in such a hurry to get an answer out, he would react so fast to reply to a percieved question that he would end up asking the speaker to repeat themselves , when in reality, idf he had taken a breath for a fraction of a second, ALL the speakers words would have been spoken and then his mind would process them as they should. So I suggested to Charlie he try the same thing, as his constant "WHATs?" were starting to get on moms last nerve.
Charlie is a Jr. in college this year, studying Aerospace Engineering (my boy the ROCKET SCIENTIST), and entering his 3rd year (of 5) I knew this was when things were going to get tough (mechanical engineering here), so we found a short space in his schedule and let an Audiologist take a stab at his hearing to determine if it was real, or just teenage impatience.
Thirty minutes later we had an answer, 40% hearng loss on one side and 20% on the other. Due to the fact that its not from a "normal" hearing loss (there are normal hearing losses?) the Dr. suggested that surgery was not an option as it wouldnt have any positive results. That left traditional hearing aides or bone conduction headsets. The Dr suggested that the bone conduction may give better results over the long term. But thoise types of headsets are MUCH more obvious, and standing out is not something that Charlie really appreciates. Add to that the idea that I personally have never had great results with bone conduction headsets,he chose the more traditional hearing aids.
I have to admit I was quite impressed with the results. Charlie's hair about as long as mine was when I was his age, but I was really impressed with how close they were able to match the devices to his hair color so they were barely noticeable. With my dads, and since it was the VA he got good old medical material beige. All that aside, Charlie took his first exam last week, snce he got his hearing aids, when I asked him how he did, he was really enthusiastic, he said he got 100% I point that out because coming out of that test I know that he was kind of concerned over how he would do, as it was the first exam in that class.
All that to suggest that if you dont have Hearing on your medical fitness check, you probably want to start.