*difficulty using the telephone *loss of sound localization *difficulty understanding speech, especially of children and women whose voices are of a higher frequency. *difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background noise (cocktail party effect) *sounds or speech sounding dull, muffled or attenuated *need for increased volume on television, radio, music and other audio sources<unk>  is sensory, but may have accompanying symptoms: *pain or pressure in the ears *a blocked feeling There may also be accompanying secondary symptoms: *hyperacusis, heightened sensitivity with accompanying auditory pain to certain intensities and frequencies of sound, sometimes defined as "auditory recruitment" *tinnitus, ringing, buzzing, hissing or other sounds in the ear when no external sound is present *vertigo and disequilibrium *tympanophonia, also known as autophonia, abnormal<unk>  of one's own voice and respiratory sounds, usually as a result of a patulous (a constantly open) eustachian tube or dehiscent superior semicircular canals *disturbances of facial movement (indicating a possible tumour or stroke) or in persons with Bell's palsy Complications<unk>  is associated with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The risk increases with the<unk>  degree. There are several hypotheses including cognitive resources being redistributed to<unk>  and social isolation from<unk>  having a negative effect. According to preliminary data,<unk>  aid usage can slow down the decline in cognitive functions.<unk>  is responsible for causing thalamocortical dysrthymia in the brain which is a cause for several neurological disorders including tinnitus and visual snow syndrome. Cognitive decline<unk>  is an increasing concern especially in aging populations. The prevalence of<unk>  increases about two-fold for each decade increase in age after age 40. While the secular trend might decrease individual level risk of developing<unk> , the prevalence of<unk>  is expected to rise due to the aging population in the US. Another concern about aging process is cognitive decline, which may progress to mild cognitive impairment and eventually dementia. The association between<unk>  and cognitive decline has been studied in various research settings. Despite the variability in study design and protocols, the majority of these studies have found consistent association between age-related<unk>  and cognitive decline, cognitive impairment, and dementia. The association between age-related<unk>  and Alzheimer's disease was found to be nonsignificant, and this finding supports the hypothesis that<unk>  is associated with dementia independent of Alzheimer pathology. There are several hypothesis about the underlying causal mechanism for age-related<unk>  and cognitive decline. One hypothesis is that this association can be explained by common etiology or shared neurobiological pathology with decline in other physiological system. Another possible cognitive mechanism emphasize on individual's cognitive load. As people developing<unk>  in the process of aging, the cognitive load demanded by auditory perception increases, which may lead to change in brain structure and eventually to dementia. One other hypothesis suggests that the association between<unk>  and cognitive decline is mediated through various psychosocial factors, such as decrease in social contact and increase in social isolation. Findings on the association between<unk>  and dementia have significant public health implication, since about 9% of dementia cases are associated with<unk> . Falls Falls have important health implications, especially for an aging population where they can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of injuries caused by falls, since older individuals typically have greater bone fragility and poorer protective reflexes. Fall-related injury can also lead to burdens on the financial and health care systems. In literature, age-related<unk>  is found to be significantly associated with incident falls. There is also a potential dose-response relationship between<unk>  and falls—greater severity of<unk>  is associated with increased difficulties in postural control and increased prevalence of falls. The underlying causal link between the association of<unk>  and falls is yet to be elucidated. There are several hypotheses that indicate that there may be a common process between decline in auditory system and increase in incident falls, driven by physiological, cognitive, and behavioral factors. This evidence suggests that treating<unk>  has potential to increase health-related quality of life in older adults. Depression Depression is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In older adults, the suicide rate is higher than it is for younger adults, and more suicide cases are attributable to depression. Different studies have been done to investigate potential risk factors that can give rise to depression in later life. Some chronic diseases are found to be significantly associated with risk of developing depression, such as coronary heart disease, pulmonary disease, vision<unk>  and<unk> .<unk>  can attribute to decrease in health-related quality of life, increase in social isolation and decline in social engagement, which are all risk factors for increased risk of developing depression symptoms. Spoken language ability Post-lingual deafness is<unk>  that is sustained after the acquisition of language, which can occur due to disease, trauma, or as a side-effect of a medicine. Typically,<unk>  is gradual and often detected by family and friends of affected individuals long before the patients themselves will acknowledge the disability. Post-lingual deafness is far more common than pre-lingual deafness. Those who lose their<unk>  later in life, such as in late adolescence or adulthood, face their own challenges, living with the adaptations that allow them to live independently. Prelingual deafness is profound<unk>  that is sustained before the acquisition of language, which can occur due to a congenital condition or through<unk>  before birth or in early infancy. Prelingual deafness impairs an individual's ability to acquire a spoken language in children, but deaf children can acquire spoken language through support from cochlear implants (sometimes combined with<unk>  aids). Non-signing<unk>  parents of deaf babies (90–95% of cases) usually go with oral approach without the support of sign language, as these families lack previous experience with sign language and cannot competently provide it to their children without learning it themselves. Unfortunately, this may in some cases (late implantation or not sufficient benefit from cochlear implants) bring the risk of language deprivation for the deaf baby because the deaf baby would not have a sign language if the child is unable to acquire spoken language successfully. The 5–10% of cases of deaf babies born into signing families have the potential of age-appropriate development of language due to early exposure to a sign language by sign-competent parents, thus they have the potential to meet language milestones, in sign language in lieu of spoken language.
Hearing loss
Dyslexia
Aphasia
Ophthalmia
Cortical deafness
Vocal cord dysfunction
Post-lingual deafness
Vocal cord paresis