Blog

老年性耳聋一般是指年龄在60岁以上，因听觉系统老化、无其他致病原而出现的双耳进行性感音神经性聋。老年性耳聋患者多希望他人说话“慢半拍”，喜欢安静的环境。有50%～70%的患者还伴有持续性耳鸣。但生活中其发病年龄及进展程度因人而异，有的40岁即出现听力障碍，有的到80高龄仍耳聪目明，这与遗传基因、工作环境、生活条件、身体情况等有关。一般认为，男性、城市居民、工人、有心血管疾病的患者等人群的发病率较高。

Six categories of presbycusis

The pathological changes of presbycusis mainly manifested in inner ear basement membrane thickening, calcification, hyaline degeneration, spiral ligament atrophy, inner and outer hair cell atrophy with supporting cell reduction, striated vascular atrophy, spiral ganglion degeneration, cochlear nerve degeneration, inner ear blood vessels Hardening, narrowing or even occlusion of the lumen, degeneration and degeneration of nerve nuclei in the auditory nerve center and cerebral cortex.According to pathological changes, senile deafness is generally divided into 6 types:

The sensory type is characterized by the degeneration, damage, and reduction of the outer hair cells and supporting cells of the cochlea, and the patient’s hearing in both ears drops sharply.

The main pathological changes of neurotype are spiral ganglion and cochlear nerve atrophy. The hearing curve is flat and decreased, the high frequency is obvious, and the language recognition ability is worse than the sound perception ability. It is also called schizophrenia.

Vascular type, also known as metabolic presbycusis, is characterized by cochlear stria vascularis atrophy, the hearing curve gradually declines, and the ability to recognize speech is good.

Cochlear conduction type, also known as mechanical presbycusis, is characterized by thickening of the basement membrane, deposition of calcium salts, reduction of elastic fibers, and hyaline degeneration.The hearing curve is dominated by high-frequency hearing loss.

The mixed type has the characteristics of the above types, but it is not suitable to be defined as a certain type alone. The hearing curve shows a gradual decline.

Uncertainty does not have any of the above-mentioned characteristics, and histological examination has no fixed pathological changes.

Four treatments

Presbycusis is a natural law, and there is no way to reverse it, but treatment can slow down the progression of deafness. The methods are as follows:

1. Drug treatment.Commonly used drugs include the following categories: vasodilators to improve microcirculation, such as Sibelin, Persantin, Dibazole, Danshen, Mailuoning, Luoxintong, Nimodipine, Dioxinxuekang, and low-molecular-weight dextran, etc.; endocrine agents, such as sex hormones Etc.; Lipoprotein dissolving agent, such as Antomin, etc.; Vitamins, such as vitamin A and E; Chinese patent medicines for promoting blood circulation, removing stasis, resuscitating and promoting qi, such as Yiqi Fucong Decoction, Yufeng Ningxin Tablet, Songling Xuemaikang, Deafness Zoci pills, etc.; tranquilizers, invigorating the heart and sedatives, such as tranquilizing and invigorating heart pills, Tianma pills, doxepin, diazepam, carbamazepine, etc.

2、补充锌、铁等微量元素。耳蜗与前庭都是锌含量最高的器官。据统计，30%～58%的老年性耳聋患者有不同程度的缺锌症状。通过补锌以后有20%～28%的患者纯音听力改善，25%～40%的患者耳鸣减轻，故补锌能延缓或阻止老年性耳聋的发生。老年性耳聋患者若血清含铁量低于正常人时，可出现红细胞硬化，导致耳蜗血管供血不足，听力减退或全聋。而补充铁可扩张耳蜗血管，软化红细胞，有效防止耳聋。

3. Treat systemic diseases.Patients with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and hyperlipidemia should be treated promptly and reasonably.Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used when there are no contraindications.

4. WearHearing aid.Patients with severe deafness can be equipped withHearing aid, In order to communicate with others and avoid loneliness and pessimism.At the same time, language training and lip-reading training can be used to improve language comprehension.

Delay the aging of the auditory system

The key to preventing presbycusis is anti-aging. The author believes that the aging of the auditory system can be delayed from the following aspects:

To maintain healthy behaviors, you should live in a reasonable schedule, enrich your spiritual life, and maintain optimism; you must have a broad mind, a good mood, a calm heart, make more friends, participate in group activities, and avoid loneliness.

Reasonable diet should pay attention to nutrition, avoid “three highs and one low” (high sugar, high salt, high cholesterol, low vitamins), avoid fast food, hot food, and cold food; eat more foods with high zinc and iron content, such as black fungus, Lean meat, fish, beans; quit smoking and limit alcohol, drink moderate amounts of milk every day, and eat 1 to 2 eggs.

Appropriate participation in sports activities. Life lies in exercise, and exercise is to maintain one’s health. You should participate in physical exercises appropriately.At the same time, you can massage and rub the auricle 80-100 times a day to increase the blood supply to the ear.

Involuntary medication should be used rationally under the guidance of a doctor. Do not make your own claims, especially ototoxic drugs, such as gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, etc., should be used with caution.

Prevent noise stimulation. When the sound is higher than 90 decibels, it will damage the hearing, so you should try to avoid the noise environment.

For early treatment of illnesses, you should attend physical examinations on time, and treat the illnesses in time if you find them. Don’t avoid doctors, so as not to delay treatment.