1. Introduction
Meniere’s disease is an inner ear disorder. People diagnosed with Meniere’s disease experience a variety of symptoms which include a fluctuating hearing loss which can turn permanent, tinnitus or a ringing sound in the ears, ear pressure, and spinning also known as vertigo. Most people with Meniere’s disease only have one ear affected by the disease. Meniere’s disease usually affects people between the ages of 20 and 50, but it can appear at any age. Meniere’s disease is chronic and there is no cure, but there are treatment options people can use to minimize some of the symptoms they might experience (1).
2. Definition
Meniere’s disease is a disorder of the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear that is determined by recurrent
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These symptoms can last for short periods or even long periods of time. Intensity varies as well. Although there are many theories that exist about what causes Meniere’s disease, no definite answers have been proven. There are researchers who believe Meniere’s disease is the result of constrictions in blood vessels, like those that cause migraine headaches. Some researchers believe Meniere’s disease could be the result of viral infections, allergies, perhaps eve some autoimmune reactions. Meniere’s disease appears to run in some families. Genetic variations could be considered the cause of abnormalities in the volume or regulations of endolymph fluid …show more content…
These symptoms include: two or more episodes of vertigo lasting approximately 20 minutes each, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing of the ear), temporary episodes of hearing loss, as well as a feeling of “fullness” in the ear. In terms of assessment, the NIDCD asserts that some physicians will implement the use of hearing tests to determine the extent of the hearing loss that has occurred due to Ménière’s disease
Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard details the history, etiology, and ethnography of deafness on Martha’s Vineyard between the seventeenth century to the death of the last inhabitant in 1952. Nora Ellen Groce, the author and principal investigator of this study, richly details the lives of both deaf and hearing inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard by referring to the remaining documents and interviewing several current residents who at the time were in their eighties and nineties. The residents, or in Groce’s terms, “informants”, were most helpful and enlightening in that many shared stories and memories of several of the deaf inhabitants. Not only does Groce use an oral and historical approach to studying the history of deafness on Martha’s Vineyard she also includes the genetic component as well and describes certain medical anomalies such as birth trauma and the theories of Mendelian genetics. This report addresses Groce’s analysis of the medical etiology of deafness, attitudinal differences between the mainland and Martha’s Vineyard on being deaf, and the lifestyles of Martha’s Vineyard residents that coincide and contrast with the mainland inhabitants. This report will also address the improvements and .
Parnes & Nabi (2009) mentioned in their article that the vestibular system allows for vertebrates to detect spatial position as well as motion. Timothy & Hain (2009) further elaborated that rotational movement is detected by the semi-circular canals. The vestibular system can be subdivided into the otolith organs and the semi-circular canals (SCC) (Parnes & Nabi, 2009). The otolith organs can be further divided into the utricle and saccule (Timothy & Hain, 2009). All of these canals have a pivotal role in the maintenance of balance (Fife, 2009). The SCC which contains endolymph is situated at right angles to each other and detects rotational hea...
Mark started losing his hearing when he was about six or seven years old. This was manifested in confusion in music class, misunderstanding the words that the choir was singing, and discombobulation in noisy rooms. Eventually, it was noted that Mark’s hearing was deteriorating.
With around 70,000 special education students with hearing losses in the US it is no wonder that teaching these students the art of music has become an important opportunity within their education (U.S. Department of Education). According to Darrow and Heller (1985) as well as Solomon (1980) the history of education for students with hearing loss extends over a hundred and fifty years. These students have every right to music education classes and music instructors need to understand their unique learning differences and similarities to those of the average typical (mainstreamed) student to ensure these students have a successful and comprehensive learning experience. Despite this, there are still plenty of roadblocks, one of which may be some music instructor’s lack of effective practices and methods to successfully teach to the student’s more unique needs. Alice Ann-Darrow is a Music Education and Music Therapy Professor at Florida State University. Darrow’s article “Students with Hearing Losses” focuses not only on the importance of music education for these students but it is also a summarized guide of teaching suggestions containing integral information for the unique way these students learn.
“Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent,” wrote the iconic American essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, a lofty proclamation that inspired my focus to help those with hearing loss through restoration. After a winding journey in search for an academic focus, I discovered that audiology is far more than just aiding deaf or hard of hearing individuals, but restoring balance, managing loss through therapy, and discovering new research techniques that may involve auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. After arriving at my destination, I also learned that it is my responsibility as a future audiologist to be a leader, to work hard toward achieving a better future for myself, and a better world for humanity at large. This vision drives my aspiration to join the University of South Florida’s graduate audiology program this coming fall, and continue my examination of clinical audiology as a member of your community.
The effects of NIHL can be noticed either immediately witha sudden dramatic loss of hearing or gradually over a long period of time where it may slowly become harder to understand someone talking in a noisy room. NIHL can affect the hearing of either
It is the disease of interstitial keratitis with deafness and vertigo attacks. Ataxic incidents may occasionally report. Abnormal MRI scans are of rare complaints. Deafness is very rare incidence in multiple sclerosis. Plus, cerebrospinal fluid readings are normal.
So what exactly is Meniere’s disease? Meniere’s disease is a disease that affects the inner ear. It is characterized by unilateral sensorineural hearing loss mainly in the lower frequencies that often fluctuates, tinnitus, irregular intervals of vertigo that can last anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours (John Jacob Ballenger, 1996). What are these symptoms? Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing loss that is caused by the damage or alteration of the sensory mechanism of the cochlea or other neural structures (Clark, 2012). Tinnitus is ear or head noises. It is usually described as a ringing or hissing sound in the ears. Vertigo is a sensation that one feels that makes them feel as if they or the room is spinning (Clark, 2012). People with Meniere’s disease often report experiencing that their ear has a sense of fullness. The patient may also report symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and excessive sweating. When the patient is experiencing a vertigo attack that is often when the fluctuation of hearing is experienced as well. After the vertigo attack, the patient suffering from Meniere’s disease is generally left exhausted a...
From this point, vibration of the connective membrane (oval window) transforms mechanical motion into a pressure wave in fluid. This pressure wave enters and hence passes vibrations into the fluid filled structure called the cochlea. The cochlea contains two membranes and between these two membranes, are specialized neurons or receptors called hair cells. Once vibrations enter the cochlea, they cause the lower membrane (basilar membrane) to move in respect to the upper membrane (i.e. the tectorial membrane in which the hair cells are embedded). This movement bends the hair cells to cause receptor potentials in these cells which in turn cause the release of transmitter onto the neurons of the auditory nerve.
Noise is ubiquitous in our environment. (Pediatrics , 1997) It is undesirable sound, unwanted sound. Sound is what we hear. It is vibration in a medium, usually air. Sound has intensity, frequency and duration. The ability to hear sounds at certain frequencies is more readily lost in response to noise. (Pediatrics , 1997). The further you are from sound the less effect you hear it but the more closer you are to sound the louder it is.
Physical aging is a natural process that appears within psychosocial and behavioral contexts that greatly influence the progression of an individual’s experience of aging. Aging is often associated with greater exposure to disease and disability. The primary auditory disorder of many older people is difficulty understanding speech in noisy situations or competing speech, or that their communicators speak too fast, or do not articulate clearly enough. Age-related hearing loss, also known as presbycusis is a gradual and progressive hearing loss that affects most individuals as they age. Due to the slow evolution, adults with age-related hearing loss may not recognize that their hearing ability is decreasing, but if they do, they may acknowledge it as typical aging. Age is the greatest risk factor for sensorineural hearing loss, of greater degree in the higher frequencies and increasingly progressive. The term presbycusis reflects both peripheral and central auditory system dysfunction. Nevertheless, hearing loss is often mistreated due to its hidden sense that is always anticipated to be operating. Nevertheless, it is essential to study and understand aspects of several different types of hearing loss as it may be socially debilitating.
“That’s one thing I hate! All the noise, noise, noise, noise!” This excerpt from Theodor Geisel’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas portrays the distaste many people share for strident sounds. Noise, however, is something that a society is unable to control due to its population and continuous construction work in order to maintain a certain standard of living. When a society is accustomed to the loud sounds it produces on a daily basis, people often forget the effects of being exposed to this aspect of society over time. Analogously, the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad exams a society that is so compelled with obtaining the wealth in an underdeveloped country that they forget what it means to behave civilly. Although the path to recovery in both instances in virtually nonexistent, strides can be taken to avoid both instances. The Heart of Darkness explores a system of industrialism in which men emerge greedy and decadent, in like manner, those who surround themselves with strident sounds on a daily basis may find themselves victims of noise induced hearing loss.
Hearing loss is often overlooked because our hearing is an invisible sense that is always expected to be in action. Yet, there are people everywhere that suffer from the effects of hearing loss. It is important to study and understand all aspects of the many different types and reasons for hearing loss. The loss of this particular sense can be socially debilitating. It can affect the communication skills of the person, not only in receiving information, but also in giving the correct response. This paper focuses primarily on hearing loss in the elderly. One thing that affects older individuals' communication is the difficulty they often experience when recognizing time compressed speech. Time compressed speech involves fast and unclear conversational speech. Many older listeners can detect the sound of the speech being spoken, but it is still unclear (Pichora-Fuller, 2000). In order to help with diagnosis and rehabilitation, we need to understand why speech is unclear even when it is audible. The answer to that question would also help in the development of hearing aids and other communication devices. Also, as we come to understand the reasoning behind this question and as we become more knowledgeable about what older adults can and cannot hear, we can better accommodate them in our day to day interactions.
In many cases, the cause of this condition is not known. It may be caused by a disturbance in an area of the inner ear that helps your brain sense movement and balance. A disturbance can be caused by a viral infection (labyrinthitis), head injury, or repetitive motion.
There are various types of hearing impairments just as there as various types of most other disabilities. The word deaf within our society today is over used and misunderstood. The textbook definition for the term deaf is limited or absent hearing for ordinary purposes of daily living. Notice the term deaf and the term hearing impairment hold two separate meanings. The textbook definition for hearing impairment is less than normal hearing (either sensitivity or speech understanding) resulting from auditory disorder(s) (Gargiulo & Bouck,