Latest / Health Matters / Hearing loss for the elderly
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Health Matters is brought to you by Phonak. Life is on.
- 0:05Speaker 1: If it's a matter of health,
- 0:07Speaker 2: it matters. Health Matters
- 0:10Speaker 1: with Daniel Martin. Welcome into the show, everybody.
- 0:12Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me as I continue
- 0:14Speaker 2: my series on one of my most favorite senses in
- 0:16Speaker 2: the world. And that is hearing. Obviously, I work in radio.
- 0:19Speaker 2: Hearing is a very important sense for a lot of
- 0:21Speaker 2: people in my industry, but I know how easy it
- 0:23Speaker 2: is for a lot of people to just say this
- 0:25Speaker 2: all attache, which is, ah, you're getting older, of course.
- 0:28Speaker 2: Of course, you're going to lose your hearing. People accept
- 0:31Speaker 2: it as part of the hearing process. In the first
- 0:33Speaker 2: part of our discussion last time around, we zoomed in
- 0:35Speaker 2: on how hearing problems can emerge for younger individuals. What
- 0:39Speaker 2: about the older individual? That's my focus today as I
- 0:41Speaker 2: welcome to the show, Hoen Ke, senior audiologist out of
- 0:44Speaker 2: DS Audiology Private Limited. They're a hearing clinic. This is
- 0:47Speaker 2: Health Matters, and if you have any questions on hearing health,
- 0:50Speaker 2: you're welcome to WhatsApp across.
- 0:52Speaker 2: Thank you. Welcome to the program. Hi there. Hey, hi,
- 0:54Speaker 2: thank you very much. Good to have you on board.
- 0:56Speaker 2: I'm curious, like, I'm sure you've heard that as well, right?
- 0:58Speaker 2: People will be like, of course, you're getting older, it's
- 1:01Speaker 2: normal to lose a bit of the hearing. Is it
- 1:03Speaker 2: per se? Um, I think hearing loss is very often,
- 1:08Speaker 2: you know, in aging, you know, as we age, um,
- 1:11Speaker 2: we will definitely lose some.
- 1:13Speaker 2: Um, hearing, but it is usually in a very gradual
- 1:16Speaker 2: form as well, you know, it's part of the aging process.
- 1:20Speaker 2: Is it so with the aging process, yes, you're going
- 1:23Speaker 2: to get potentially some gradual hearing loss, but is it
- 1:26Speaker 2: always about just aging? No, it's not just always about
- 1:29Speaker 2: aging because there are other factors that actually contribute to
- 1:34Speaker 2: You know, hearing loss as well, even in the um
- 1:37Speaker 2: older population as well. I'll give you some examples. For example,
- 1:41Speaker 2: one of the causes of hearing loss is actually um
- 1:44Speaker 2: exposure to loud noises, for example, prolonged exposure. For example,
- 1:49Speaker 2: some of them, um, maybe in their younger days, they
- 1:52Speaker 2: have been working in um heavy industries, for example, like.
- 1:55Speaker 2: The shipping line, for example, like the construction line, and
- 2:00Speaker 2: if hearing protection was not worn during that time, you know,
- 2:03Speaker 2: very often, you know, with the exposure, it can actually
- 2:06Speaker 2: lead to what we call noise-induced hearing loss as well.
- 2:09Speaker 2: So that's that's one of it. I think the other
- 2:12Speaker 2: one would be ear infections, um, and then the other
- 2:15Speaker 2: one would be actually medication as well.
- 2:18Speaker 2: I give you some examples such as um there are
- 2:22Speaker 2: certain drugs that are autotoxic in nature, yeah, so when
- 2:26Speaker 2: we say autotoxic, that means they actually do affect the
- 2:30Speaker 2: hair cells in the hearing organ as well.
- 2:33Speaker 2: Here, right, the cilia we're talking about. And so when
- 2:36Speaker 2: those vibrate sends a signal to the inner ear, blah
- 2:38Speaker 2: blah blah. But the point is we need that to
- 2:40Speaker 2: be able to hear well. Yes, correct. So some of
- 2:42Speaker 2: these um medication might be toxic to these, for example,
- 2:47Speaker 2: like certain class of
- 2:49Speaker 2: Antibiotics or certain um chemotherapy drugs. For example, you know,
- 2:54Speaker 2: like um but then more people would have hearing loss.
- 2:56Speaker 2: These are quite rare side effects are, yeah, they are not, um,
- 3:00Speaker 2: I mean, for example, if you, if you have to undergo,
- 3:03Speaker 2: I'll give you some real examples, for example, if um
- 3:06Speaker 2: nasopharyngeal cancer, you know, they have to undergo some radiation therapy,
- 3:12Speaker 2: they have to undergo chemotherapy, and some of these drugs
- 3:15Speaker 2: actually do affect that as well. So yeah.
- 3:19Speaker 2: It it does occur, there can be reasons for this
- 3:21Speaker 2: as well outside of the aging process. Let's zoom back
- 3:23Speaker 2: to that group where you can expect some hearing loss
- 3:26Speaker 2: as you age, but like you said, it's gonna be gradual.
- 3:29Speaker 2: So what are the signs or the symptoms that indicate
- 3:32Speaker 2: that this would be a gradual loss? OK, for example,
- 3:35Speaker 2: you know, for some, how do hearing loss actually creep
- 3:38Speaker 2: up gradually, you know, and what are some of the
- 3:41Speaker 2: signs um that we can actually see in seniors, for example,
- 3:45Speaker 2: You find that they have actually difficulty understanding speech, especially
- 3:49Speaker 2: in the noisy environment. So we use some um day
- 3:52Speaker 2: to day life experiences. You go to Kia, you know,
- 3:56Speaker 2: try to talk to your, I try to talk to
- 3:58Speaker 2: my father, for example, he has some hearing loss. So
- 4:02Speaker 2: for example, you ask him, dad, you know, what do
- 4:05Speaker 2: you want to drink, then he doesn't catch you or
- 4:07Speaker 2: he might misunderstand you. OK, so that's one,
- 4:11Speaker 2: You find that they would have to frequently ask for
- 4:13Speaker 2: repetitions as well. For example, I'm so sorry, Sanki, do
- 4:17Speaker 2: you mind repeating what what do you say just now again? Yeah,
- 4:22Speaker 2: or they do have, um, but you find that there
- 4:24Speaker 2: are some behavioral changes. I give you some examples, you
- 4:27Speaker 2: turn up the volume um on the TV and then
- 4:31Speaker 2: on the iPad or on their mobile phones, yeah.
- 4:35Speaker 2: To them, it is soft, but actually to other people
- 4:38Speaker 2: in the family or people around them it's actually loud. Um,
- 4:44Speaker 2: some of them would be actually withdrawn as well because
- 4:46Speaker 2: they find it a bit embarrassing, right? You know, I
- 4:49Speaker 2: always have to ask you so many times, you know,
- 4:51Speaker 2: and then the problem is we respond in a very
- 4:55Speaker 2: Social family way and you'd be like, ah, dad always
- 4:58Speaker 2: cannot like dad's not paying attention or mom never listens
- 5:02Speaker 2: or we respond in a very emotional way as opposed
- 5:03Speaker 2: to it being a physical problem, but we don't, they
- 5:06Speaker 2: can't tell, we can't tell. And then that causes, you know, people,
- 5:09Speaker 2: the withdrawal could happen or the social isolation could happen.
- 5:11Speaker 2: This does happen with hearing loss. Yes, yes. So, so
- 5:14Speaker 2: in reality, what happens is that I've seen certain cases
- 5:18Speaker 2: whereby children actually share with us that, um, you know,
- 5:22Speaker 2: when they go to um
- 5:24Speaker 2: Maybe they go and eat, they want to ask their parents,
- 5:27Speaker 2: and then there is a dilemma, the dilemma is that
- 5:30Speaker 2: if I don't raise my voice, then maybe my dad
- 5:33Speaker 2: is unable to hear. I raised my voice, he finds that,
- 5:35Speaker 2: why is so rude, you know, you raising your voice
- 5:37Speaker 2: talking to me like that. Yeah. So that's that's also
- 5:40Speaker 2: the other one, and then gradually what happens is that
- 5:44Speaker 2: you will find that um they might be withdrawn, you know,
- 5:47Speaker 2: they're not very keen because anyway, it's a bit embarrassing, right,
- 5:50Speaker 2: over time.
- 5:52Speaker 2: Um, some of it, some of the other things that
- 5:54Speaker 2: you realize that they actually do miss a certain soft sounds,
- 5:59Speaker 2: for example, like birds chirping, like the rain, the rain falling. OK, um,
- 6:06Speaker 2: this part is in particular because um these sounds, some
- 6:09Speaker 2: of these sounds are soft, OK. So for example, it
- 6:13Speaker 2: is raining outside, it might not be pouring or might
- 6:16Speaker 2: be just drizzling.
- 6:17Speaker 2: But they don't realize because the raindrops actually are a
- 6:20Speaker 2: bit softer, yeah, and then it gets annoying if you're
- 6:23Speaker 2: the kid living in the house like, Oh my God, Mom, Dad,
- 6:25Speaker 2: it's raining. How come the clothes are still outside, you know,
- 6:26Speaker 2: that kind of thing like you never notice that we
- 6:28Speaker 2: respond in an emotional way, but maybe they didn't hear it.
- 6:33Speaker 2: I always tell our listener I've been hosting this whole
- 6:34Speaker 2: show for 20 years. I'm like, look, as people get
- 6:36Speaker 2: older and you're worried about these fights with your older
- 6:39Speaker 2: loved ones and all that.
- 6:40Speaker 2: Check out their hearing, their sense of sight, and their
- 6:43Speaker 2: dental issues as well. The dental can lead to malnutrition
- 6:47Speaker 2: issues amongst the elderly, the visual issue can lead to
- 6:49Speaker 2: so many problems like accidents and bumps, and the hearing
- 6:53Speaker 2: can lead to social isolation or the, the, the root
- 6:55Speaker 2: of some of these problems where you think it is
- 6:57Speaker 2: the older person getting slow, but actually they didn't hear it.
- 7:02Speaker 2: That is so powerful that we have.
- 7:03Speaker 2: To understand how a health problem can be linked to
- 7:07Speaker 2: so much more than just a health problem. I want
- 7:09Speaker 2: to talk about solutions for this. Obviously, for some of
- 7:12Speaker 2: the more serious, is there always a solution is my point,
- 7:15Speaker 2: when it comes to hearing loss as one ages. Um,
- 7:18Speaker 2: there are actually a lot of good solutions out there. Yeah,
- 7:22Speaker 2: but before we go there, I just wanted to add
- 7:23Speaker 2: on a particular point that actually you mentioned, which is
- 7:26Speaker 2: pretty good, actually.
- 7:27Speaker 2: Um, you mentioned about visual, right? You know, hearing also
- 7:30Speaker 2: contributes a lot to safety as well. For example, you know,
- 7:34Speaker 2: if you can't hear the bicycle actually ringing, the bicycle
- 7:37Speaker 2: is there trying to ring and ring e-biker on the pathway, then,
- 7:42Speaker 2: then the guy is like, Hey, auntie, why you never like,
- 7:44Speaker 2: you know, stand on one side.
- 7:45Speaker 2: You know, yeah, so that actually contributes to um a
- 7:50Speaker 2: a very great level of awareness to your surroundings and
- 7:54Speaker 2: to safety as well. Now, going on to solutions, there are,
- 7:58Speaker 2: there are actually many good solutions out there, for example,
- 8:02Speaker 2: hearing aids in patients with hearing aids can't address all
- 8:06Speaker 2: hearing loss.
- 8:07Speaker 2: But you can address those that are functionally related to
- 8:10Speaker 2: certain issues, right? Yes, so, so hearing aids won't be
- 8:14Speaker 2: able to address every single hearing loss, OK, but they
- 8:19Speaker 2: do actually help out with quite a significant chunk of
- 8:24Speaker 2: um hearing loss as well. So but there are, I mean,
- 8:27Speaker 2: aside from hearing aids, there are other solutions such as
- 8:29Speaker 2: cochlear implants, you know, bone-angle hearing aids, you know.
- 8:32Speaker 2: This kind of things as well. But is that also
- 8:34Speaker 2: cause dependent, you should only go for a cochlear implant
- 8:36Speaker 2: issue if the problem is with the cochlear or can
- 8:39Speaker 2: address a lot of it can address, um, OK, so
- 8:43Speaker 2: I give you some examples. For example, if um hearing aids,
- 8:46Speaker 2: if they no longer are beneficial, you know, even if
- 8:50Speaker 2: you got the best hearing aid, you know, but to
- 8:53Speaker 2: a certain extent and certain level, what happens is that
- 8:56Speaker 2: when the cochlear.
- 8:57Speaker 2: Um, it's belly damage, OK, and um, hearing its benefits
- 9:02Speaker 2: are very limited or very little. Now this is one
- 9:06Speaker 2: of the other solutions would be like cochlear implant. Yeah,
- 9:10Speaker 2: so this is, this is how actually it helps as well.
- 9:13Speaker 2: But um the easiest for a lot of people getting
- 9:16Speaker 2: a referral from the EMT or the um and, and
- 9:19Speaker 2: learning about the idea of, OK, maybe we'll recommend you
- 9:21Speaker 2: for a hearing aid. This can work for a majority,
- 9:24Speaker 2: a lot of hearing loss that is related. My problem and,
- 9:27Speaker 2: and the thing that I've been talking about this on
- 9:29Speaker 2: air is.
- 9:30Speaker 2: The hurdle that an older person might have in terms of,
- 9:33Speaker 2: oh no, I don't want to wear a hearing aid.
- 9:36Speaker 2: They feel that it looks a certain way or it
- 9:39Speaker 2: ages them and they, I don't know, maybe they're still
- 9:42Speaker 2: thinking of the old fashioned ones that are big and
- 9:44Speaker 2: pink and behind your ear and that has feedback and,
- 9:46Speaker 2: and everybody knows that you're wearing it and then you
- 9:48Speaker 2: have to adjust it all the time, that kind of stuff.
- 9:49Speaker 2: Things have changed though, right? How, how have you helped
- 9:52Speaker 2: people adjust to this mental perception that hearing aids are
- 9:56Speaker 2: very aging?
- 9:57Speaker 2: OK, I think um the thing about it is
- 10:01Speaker 2: That um some um older adults, you know, they still resist,
- 10:06Speaker 2: but I think one of the key things that there
- 10:08Speaker 2: are a few key factors, for example, like education, like
- 10:13Speaker 2: um it would be good, you know, as an audiologist
- 10:16Speaker 2: or even ENT doctor, you know, it would be good
- 10:18Speaker 2: to actually explain and help them to realize that actually
- 10:22Speaker 2: In the hearing aid industry or in the hearing aid itself,
- 10:25Speaker 2: you know, things have changed a lot, you know. Gone
- 10:28Speaker 2: are the days where I you know it's very big,
- 10:30Speaker 2: chunky that's hanging behind the ear. Now they are a
- 10:33Speaker 2: lot smaller, yeah. Are they still behind the ear? Yeah,
- 10:38Speaker 2: they are still behind the ear, but they can they
- 10:41Speaker 2: actually do get.
- 10:42Speaker 2: Now significantly smaller that you actually have to really go
- 10:47Speaker 2: very close to pay close attention to say that, hey,
- 10:50Speaker 2: maybe the guy is wearing a hearing aid. So there
- 10:52Speaker 2: are like small little buds that you just put into
- 10:53Speaker 2: the ear has a little antenna sticking out that kind
- 10:56Speaker 2: of thing. That's about it, right? Yes, correct. So those
- 10:58Speaker 2: are like what we call custom hearing aids, they're really small, um,
- 11:02Speaker 2: whereby you are able to just put them into the ear.
- 11:06Speaker 2: So that's one.
- 11:07Speaker 2: Um, I think the other one is that um it
- 11:09Speaker 2: is to address actually the stigma that is behind hearing
- 11:14Speaker 2: aids as well. You know, some of technology has gotten better,
- 11:17Speaker 2: the big pink one no more. I got earpods, airports,
- 11:20Speaker 2: all that kind of thing. Obviously the hearing aid is
- 11:23Speaker 2: the technology is just easier and better.
- 11:25Speaker 2: It it has moved along, you know, with technological advances.
- 11:29Speaker 2: Hearing industry has also moved along as well. You know,
- 11:32Speaker 2: as I was mentioning, um, stigma, you know, for example,
- 11:35Speaker 2: some of them will be afraid that, you know, other
- 11:36Speaker 2: people know that I'm actually getting older, you know, I
- 11:38Speaker 2: got hearing loss, um, or, you know, some of them
- 11:42Speaker 2: because actually, in fact, um, many of our seniors are
- 11:46Speaker 2: still working, so they might be worried that, you know,
- 11:48Speaker 2: they might be maybe people might laugh at them, but
- 11:51Speaker 2: cue them.
- 11:52Speaker 2: But I think this is something that as um healthcare professionals,
- 11:56Speaker 2: especially hearing healthcare professionals, we should help them to understand this.
- 12:00Speaker 2: It's more OK, so tell us like how it's really
- 12:03Speaker 2: advanced today. What are some of the new features that
- 12:05Speaker 2: really set it apart. Last time it used to be
- 12:06Speaker 2: about amplification, just by amplification, and then unfortunately, you'll see
- 12:10Speaker 2: in movies things like feedback happening and things like that
- 12:13Speaker 2: it was a comedic thing which I didn't like.
- 12:15Speaker 2: But so, so now it's like, wow, Bluetooth connected and
- 12:18Speaker 2: I mean there's all sorts of things that really happen
- 12:20Speaker 2: with modern hearing aids, right? So maybe I'll share a
- 12:23Speaker 2: few um advancements in this field as well. Um, I
- 12:27Speaker 2: give you some examples. For example, you know, there's the
- 12:30Speaker 2: buzzword of artificial intelligence, you know, machine learning. Um, this
- 12:34Speaker 2: is actually also incorporated um in hearing aids as well. No,
- 12:39Speaker 2: very often what happens is that
- 12:40Speaker 2: Now hearing aids have the capability to actually do real-time
- 12:46Speaker 2: environmental analysis. I'll give you some examples. For example, I
- 12:49Speaker 2: went to the zoo or I went to maybe the classroom,
- 12:53Speaker 2: you know, hearing aids are able to collect huge amount
- 12:57Speaker 2: of data points now and then make it um.
- 13:02Speaker 2: Actually make the algorithm on the programming itself very personalized,
- 13:06Speaker 2: so you have personalized listening experience and very often now,
- 13:10Speaker 2: it is also based on your individual preferences and habits
- 13:14Speaker 2: as well. So what is the AI doing? OK, so
- 13:16Speaker 2: what happens is that the AI part of it is
- 13:18Speaker 2: that is scanning the environment, you know, it's trying to
- 13:21Speaker 2: understand what kind of environment you are in.
- 13:23Speaker 2: Um, how you can enhance the speech sound while trying
- 13:27Speaker 2: to dampen and lower the noise. So one of the
- 13:32Speaker 2: key things about the hearing aid technolog technology is that
- 13:35Speaker 2: it is the ability to actually differentiate between speech and noise.
- 13:41Speaker 2: And so for certain, for some manufacturers whereby they have
- 13:45Speaker 2: dual processing, you know, they're able to process the speech
- 13:48Speaker 2: and then they're able to process the noise as well. Great,
- 13:51Speaker 2: because if you're in a quiet environment, great, it'll be
- 13:53Speaker 2: easy to hear the voice, but if you're in a
- 13:55Speaker 2: noisier environment, we need to be able to recognize the
- 13:57Speaker 2: voice and this is going to help us do that.
- 13:59Speaker 2: This is interesting and also contributes to the safety.
- 14:01Speaker 2: Point you were talking about just now. You do want
- 14:03Speaker 2: to hear the things around you like the bicycle whizzing
- 14:05Speaker 2: near you or something like that. Um, I want to
- 14:08Speaker 2: end off in the next two minutes. Let's talk a
- 14:09Speaker 2: little bit about your experience working with some of your clients.
- 14:12Speaker 2: How can you tell when they're really thriving with the
- 14:15Speaker 2: utility of, of the hearing aid? OK, so one of
- 14:19Speaker 2: it is that um
- 14:21Speaker 2: You know, in hearing it, there's actually um data logging.
- 14:24Speaker 2: You can actually check the data in the sense that
- 14:26Speaker 2: how long have you been using it, right? Yeah, so
- 14:28Speaker 2: you can use that kind of information to actually educate
- 14:31Speaker 2: them and very often a few things that I would
- 14:35Speaker 2: say that the sets, hearing it uses a part whereby
- 14:40Speaker 2: they thrive or they don't thrive. For example, self-efficacy.
- 14:43Speaker 2: A form of independence, a form of knowing that, you know,
- 14:47Speaker 2: I am able to handle this alone. I'm able to
- 14:49Speaker 2: wear the hearing aid, I'm able to adjust using the app,
- 14:53Speaker 2: you know, and this form of independence, you very often
- 14:57Speaker 2: see that seniors who are able to do this better,
- 14:59Speaker 2: they tend to do better with the hearing aids. Now
- 15:01Speaker 2: the other one would be the social support that comes
- 15:05Speaker 2: along with it as well.
- 15:07Speaker 2: Like for example, you go for your appointments and I
- 15:10Speaker 2: would strongly encourage hearing aid users to follow up with
- 15:13Speaker 2: your audiologist, be it in the private, be in the
- 15:15Speaker 2: public hospitals, you know, go with a family member. Why?
- 15:19Speaker 2: Because sometimes you might forget, oh, I forgot how to
- 15:22Speaker 2: do this or do that, and you actually have a
- 15:25Speaker 2: family member there to actually remind you, help you. Then
- 15:29Speaker 2: the other thing is that how the hearing aids are
- 15:31Speaker 2: also being properly fitted.
- 15:33Speaker 2: And going um ongoing um for follow-ups, you know, are
- 15:38Speaker 2: crucial for success as well. What have they told you
- 15:41Speaker 2: about how they are thriving? Um, so for example, like, oh,
- 15:44Speaker 2: now I can, you know, there are less fights. I'm
- 15:46Speaker 2: I'm talking more with people or I'm going out more.
- 15:49Speaker 2: Have you heard that? Yes, of course, very often you
- 15:52Speaker 2: see that people actually use them um well, um, they
- 15:56Speaker 2: would give this kind of feedback whereby, you know, now
- 15:58Speaker 2: I do enjoy.
- 15:59Speaker 2: The kind of communication that I have with my children,
- 16:02Speaker 2: with my grandchildren, yeah, and then I am now more active.
- 16:05Speaker 2: I feel more confident going out for social um gatherings
- 16:10Speaker 2: with my family and friends. Yeah. See that's the power of,
- 16:14Speaker 2: you see, if you thought what ages you is wearing
- 16:16Speaker 2: the hearing aid, what actually is aging you is all
- 16:19Speaker 2: those other things that would happen if you are.
- 16:20Speaker 2: Experiencing hearing loss, like having asking somebody to repeat themselves,
- 16:24Speaker 2: like turning the TV volume louder, that is a little bit,
- 16:27Speaker 2: I mean, it's ironic, right? It's really actually ironic. Thank you.
- 16:30Speaker 2: This has been very useful. Thank you so much for
- 16:31Speaker 2: your time today. Thank you very much. Joining us on
- 16:34Speaker 2: today's edition of Health Matters, uh, has been Hoen Ke,
- 16:36Speaker 2: senior audiologist from DNS Audiology Private Limited. It's a hearing clinic.
- 16:40Speaker 2: This is Health Matters.
- 16:47Speaker 2: Before making any decisions
- 16:49Speaker 1: based
- 16:49Speaker 2: on the information in
- 16:50Speaker 1: our
- 16:51Speaker 2: program, please consult a medical professional.
- 16:55Speaker 1: Health Matters is brought to you by Phonak. Life is on.