Concerning Christianity

Hearing loss is something my wife teases me about on a regular basis. After years of marching in high school and college bands, I have no doubt that I will be dealing with the repercussions of my audio abuse sooner rather than later.  But for many seniors, hearing loss is no laughing matter. A recent article in the New York Times details many of the things that happen as a result of hearing loss which are oftentimes thought of happening along with hearing loss.

Some hearing loss is a normal part of the aging process. Over time, the small hair-like fibers in our inner ears which transmit sound stop functioning as resiliently as they did in our younger days. The result is that higher frequencies and pitches become more difficult to understand. This manifests in two very unfortunate ways. First, most consonant sounds are articulated in higher pitches than vowels. This leaves the senior hearing conversations which sound muffled and muddy. Second, the natural inclination of most people is to raise their voice in order to be heard. This raises the pitch of our voice making it even more difficult for a senior to understand.

What I thought was most fascinating about this article were the different studies that it cited which illuminated some results of hearing loss that most of us don’t consider- like the role our inner ear plays in balance. A study cited by the article points out that seniors with hearing loss are three times as likely to fall than those without hearing loss. One study said that hearing loss dramatically increases the risk for dementia.

This article sheds some light on something that affects most of us in some way. I hope that we will remember this as we deal with our aging parents -or, as my wife tells me, as I deal with my own hearing loss. At least I think that’s what she said.