Digital Hearing Aid Review - Tinnitus Relief with the Hansaton Wave

Annoying, often incessant ringing, whistling, whining, buzzing or similar sounds in one or both ears, or even in the head, isn't something your imagination has conjured up. It's very real; a medical condition known as tinnitus. This condition can be rather frustrating, especially when trying to determine the cause of the ringing in your ears. Most of the time, there isn't an external sound which is causing the  sounds you are hearing. The sound comes from within the ear itself, and there are a number of reasons why you might be experiencing this high-pitched annoyance.

Tinnitus can be caused by ear infections, foreign matter in the ear, excessive wax build up, allergies that cause a problem with proper fluid drainage, use of in-the-ear headphones, medical conditions and even as a side effect of some medications. This can also be caused by congenital defects and natural hearing loss. Most commonly, it is noised-induced hearing loss which is the culprit.

Tinnitus is considered a subjective condition. It is often difficult to measure using standard hearing tests. Instead, an audiometric test is performed in order to compare the frequency and intensity of the sounds being experienced. The condition is then rated on a scale from “slight” to “catastrophic,” depending on how much interference it poses to one's daily activities.

If lasting damage to the ear has occurred, resulting in tinnitus and hearing loss, the condition can be permanent. However, there are preventative measures. Since it only takes prolonged exposure to as little as 70 decibels of sound, turning the volume down is a good idea. In the case of concerts or live events, try not to get up-close-and-personal with the sound system. In industrial environments and others with high levels of noise, a smart preventative measure is to wear some form of hearing protection. Anything you can do to reduce your exposure to loud sounds and noise can go a long way in preventing the future occurrence of hearing loss and tinnitus.

For those already suffering from tinnitus, there are treatments available. For objective tinnitus, treatments range from clearing the ear canal to the application of botulinum toxin to teflon implants to shield the cochlea and more. Subjective tinnitus has a number of treatments as well: use of medications and nutrients, avoidance or limitations of salt, caffeine and smoking, electrical stimulation, surgery and psychological approaches. Hansaton has a hearing aid which provides sound therapy to tinnitus sufferers. It's innovative technology at it's best with the Hansaton Wave.

Even if you can't completely eliminate the sounds of tinnitus, wouldn't it be great to be able to reduce them to a livable, comfortable level? With the Hansaton Wave, you can! With this handy little device, healthy sounds are introduced and help to reduce the interference cause by tinnitus. While the sound is still present, the sufferer is able to cope with it and no longer has to consider their tinnitus an excruciating experience. Through their cutting edge digital hearing aids Hansaton is making waves when it comes to retraining the ear and reversing the problems caused by tinnitus.

Older adults with hearing loss appear more likely to develop dementia, and their risk increases as hearing loss becomes more severe, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

By the year 2050, an estimated 100 million people or nearly one in 85 individuals worldwide will be affected by dementia, according to background information in the article. Interventions that could delay the onset of dementia by even 1 year could lead to a more than 10% decrease in the prevalence of dementia in 2050, the authors note. “Unfortunately, there are no known interventions that currently have such effectiveness,” they write.

Candidate risk factors for dementia include low involvement in leisure activities and social interactions, sedentary state, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, and another potential risk factor is hearing loss.

To assess whether hearing loss is another potential risk factor, Frank R. Lin, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, and colleagues studied 639 individuals age 36 to 90 without dementia. Participants initially underwent cognitive and hearing testing between 1990 and 1994 and were followed for the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease through May 31, 2008.

Of the participants, 125 had mild hearing loss (25 to 40 decibels), 53 had moderate hearing loss (41 to 70 decibels) and six had severe hearing loss (more than 70 decibels). During a median (midpoint) follow-up of 11.9 years, 58 individuals were diagnosed with dementia, including 37 who had Alzheimer’s disease. 

The risk of dementia was increased among those with hearing loss of greater than 25 decibels, with further increases in risk observed among those with moderate or severe hearing loss as compared with mild hearing loss. For participants age 60 and older, more than one-third (36.4 %) of the risk of dementia was associated with hearing loss.

The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease specifically also increased with hearing loss, such that for every 10 decibels of hearing loss, the extra risk increased by 20 %. There was no association between self-reported use of hearing aids and a reduction in dementia or Alzheimer’s disease risk.

“A number of mechanisms may be theoretically implicated in the observed association between hearing loss and incident dementia,” the authors write. Dementia may be overdiagnosed in individuals with hearing loss, or those with cognitive impairment may be overdiagnosed with hearing loss. The two conditions may share an underlying neuropathologic process.

The authors continue, “Finally, hearing loss may be causally related to dementia, possibly through exhaustion of cognitive reserve, social isolation, environmental deafferentation [elimination of sensory nerve fibers], or a combination of these pathways.”

If confirmed in other independent cohorts, the findings of the study could have substantial implications for individuals and public health.

The authors conclude, “With the increasing number of people with hearing loss, research into the mechanistic pathways linking hearing loss with dementia and the potential of rehabilitative strategies to moderate this association are critically needed.”

(Arch Neurol. 2011;68[2]:214-220)

SOURCE: JAMA