Hearing Impairment: A Global Problem

Answer 1

Affecting millions of people worldwide, hearing impairment and deafness is a serious and constantly growing problem. About 0.3% Americans, or around 1.2 million people, are considered functionally deaf, with millions more living with varying degrees of partial hearing loss. Hearing loss affects people of all ages, ethnicities, and income brackets, and can occur for a variety of reasons, a few of which will be discussed in this article.

Many people associate hearing impairment and loss with the elderly, believing that increased difficulty in hearing is just something that comes along with age, and to some degree they are correct. There is even a medical term that is defined as losing one's hearing due to aging and the effects it has on the human body: Presbycusis. Simply put, daily life puts a strain on the body, and over time the effects of that strain start to manifest themselves in areas like vision and hearing.

However, hearing impairment is in no way reserved for the elderly; it can happen to anyone. Deafness, both partial and total, can be brought on by trauma, illness, or be genetically passed on from parent to child.

Too much exposure to loud noises has left many people in either partially or totally without the ability to hear. Rock musicians, construction workers, hunters, and military person are among the millions of groups of people who, either by choice or by occupation, endure noises with such a high decibel measurement and for such a long time that, without proper ear protection, have a very high risk of trauma induced hearing impairment.

Many people don't know that deafness can be brought about by certain illnesses, one historical example of this being Helen Keller, who was struck deaf and blind at 19 months old by what doctors now assume to be either meningitis or scarlet fever. Other diseases such as Measles, Mumps, and HIV have all been proven to cause either partial or total deafness in people and especially in babies and small children. Often, a mother can pass on one of these or other diseases to a child while it's still in the womb, frequently resulting in varying degrees of hearing loss.

Hearing impairment is a serious issue, affecting hundreds of millions if not billions of people worldwide. Some forms, like genetically passed hearing loss, cannot be prevented, but loss brought about by diseases and trauma are very preventable. People need to do more to educate themselves on this issue, because hearing impairment in a widespread and serious condition.