DOI: 10.36347/sasjm

Pages: 239-243

Age-related hearing loss is called presbyacusis and is common in the elderly. It is believed to be the third most common condition among the elderly after hypertension and arthritis. It is thought to be due to degenerative changes mainly within the cochlea, leading to significant hearing loss. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, generally resulting in a bilateral, symmetric hearing loss with the greatest loss in the high frequencies and producing a “down-sloping” pattern on the audiogram. It is thought of as the incremental sum of many otologic traumas acquired throughout a lifetime, superimposed on the background of an intrinsic ageing process. Of these, noise exposure is not only the most common cause but the one most difficult to separate from the aging process itself. More than 90 percent of all hearing aid wearers have sensorineural hearing loss and the most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss are age related changes, noise exposure, disturbance of inner ear circulation and increased inner fluid pressure or disturbances of nerve transmission. It has also been suggested that lifestyle and medical conditions may paly a role. This article is a review if the role of lifestyle and other factors such as smoking, noise, hypertension and diabetes mellitus in hearing loss in the elderly