Hearing loss among the elderly
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Gary Jek Chong Lee
- Source
- Assessments, Treatments and Modeling in Aging and Neurological Disease ISBN: 9780128180006
- Subject
- education.field_of_study
Hearing loss
business.industry
Population
Presbycusis
medicine.disease
Transplantation
medicine.anatomical_structure
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
Inner ear
sense organs
Hair cell
medicine.symptom
Stem cell
business
education
Transduction (physiology)
Neuroscience
- Language
Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is one of the commonest forms of sensory impairment among elderly. Causes of presbycusis can be associated with peripheral changes in the ear as well as degeneration in auditory neural pathway. To increase the population of functioning hair cells, researchers target molecules that influence the differentiation of precursor cells as well as explore the transplantation of pluripotent or inner-ear stem cells. Age-associated degeneration of the inner ear’s lateral wall and stria vascularis may be amenable to drugs that are able to modulate K+ ion channels. Overproduction of reactive oxygen species during the hair cell transduction process also leads to cell death. Enzymes involved in glutathione metabolism in the mitochondria are explored as possible pharmacological treatment. At present, treatment of age-related hearing loss relies on the use of hearing amplification devices and cochlear implants.