Text / Yangcheng Evening News reporter Lin Qingqing correspondent Liao Wenbo
March 3, 2022 is the 23rd National Ear Day and the 10th World Ear Day.
The theme of this year's World Ear Day is "Use your ears safely, listen for a lifetime".
Hearing health is related to the life status and quality of life of the whole population and life cycle.
Experts call for strengthening hearing health education for people of all ages. The protection of "one old and one young" is particularly critical. The elderly should be diagnosed and treated early, and newborns should be screened.
(Lin Qingqing)
Being smart and seeing is an important way for human beings to receive information from the outside world, and it is also related to everyone's living conditions and quality of life.
What are the new characteristics of hearing health in Guangdong at present?
What medical advice is there for the prevention and treatment of hearing impairment?
On the eve of Ear's Day, Jiao Yuenong, deputy director of the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of the Twelfth People's Hospital of Guangzhou, introduced to reporters that according to the latest "Blue Book on Hearing Health: China Hearing Health Report (2021)" (hereinafter referred to as the Blue Book), the aging of the auditory system, Hearing loss caused by degenerative changes has increasingly become the focus of prevention and treatment of hearing impairment in my country.
Latest report: Causes of hearing impairment are clustered by region
According to the Blue Book, China is a country with a large population and a high incidence of hearing disabilities. It is the country with the largest number of hearing disabilities in the world.
In terms of the distribution characteristics of the overall population of hearing impairment, presbycusis occupies the first place (51.61%) in the cause of hearing disability in my country.
According to the data of the Second National Sampling Survey of Disabled Persons released as early as 2007, the population of middle-aged and elderly people aged 45 and above with hearing impairment has reached 25.29 million.
The prevalence rate of hearing impairment among Chinese children (0.17% for children aged 0-14 and 0.21% for adolescents aged 15-24) is lower than the 1.99% in the first national sample survey of disabled persons in 1987, which to a certain extent reflects that our country In recent years, the implementation of the national hearing impairment prevention and rehabilitation service system focusing on children has achieved important results.
With the deepening of aging in China, hearing loss caused by aging and degenerative changes of the auditory system has increasingly become the focus of prevention and treatment of hearing impairment in my country.
In addition, the Blue Book used the Walds system clustering method to analyze and found that the causes of hearing disability in my country have regional clustering.
The etiological spatial patterns of hearing disability can be classified into 4 patterns.
Compared with the "Chuan-Shaan-Gui" model, the proportion of hearing disabilities caused by genetic and developmental defects is relatively large, the "Beijing-Shanghai-Su" model has a relatively large proportion of trauma or accidental injury, and the "Black-Liaoning" model has a relatively large proportion. Infectious diseases account for a relatively large proportion in the “Mongolia-Mongolia” model. The “Guangzhou-Fu-Zhe” model where Guangdong is located (represented by Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shandong regions) is disabled by non-communicable diseases. Mainly, it suggests that future hearing disability prevention and control policies in such areas should focus on the prevention and control of chronic diseases, and also suggests that more attention should be paid to the prevention, control and rehabilitation of presbycusis, so as to maximize the prevention of senile hearing impairment caused by chronic diseases.
Is it normal for people to "be behind their ears"?
should intervene early
Many people think that "people's ears are behind" is a natural phenomenon, and some people think that wearing hearing aids is very shameful, so it is often easy to ignore presbycusis.
Jiao Yuenong reminded that these views are not scientific.
Presbycusis generally refers to people over 60 years old. The aging and degeneration of auditory organs are caused by aging, which leads to symmetrical hearing loss in both ears. It is the third most common senile deafness in the world after arthritis and hypertension. Diseases are also chronic diseases that are particularly easily overlooked.
"Although there is currently no specific medicine to treat the aging or degeneration of the auditory organs, symptomatic treatment can be done as soon as possible. The earlier the intervention, the better the effect." Jiao Yuenong said, "In addition, hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc. can also be used for elderly auditory rehabilitation."
Prevention of presbycusis, chronic disease management is very important
Hearing protection is not limited to protecting the hearing system.
Jiao Yuenong said that the prevention of presbycusis and a healthy lifestyle can directly help.
In addition to reasonable diet, avoiding high-fat diet, maintaining a good attitude, moderate exercise, and scientific ear removal, it is also very important for middle-aged and elderly people to strengthen the management of chronic diseases of the whole body.
Chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, diabetes, liver and kidney insufficiency can also cause or aggravate the occurrence and development of presbycusis.
In addition, Jiao Yuenong reminded the elderly to avoid the use of ototoxic drugs.
The incidence of adverse drug reactions in the elderly is higher than in the younger population, and the risk of drug interactions increases when taking multiple drugs.
Therefore, it is recommended that the elderly should consult a doctor before taking the medicine.
【Tips】Identify as soon as possible!
Ten common manifestations of presbycusis
1. I often feel inaudible when making a phone call.
2. When two or more people are talking at the same time, it feels a little difficult to hear them clearly.
3. People often complain that you turn up the TV volume too much.
4. In order to hear what others say, you need to listen hard.
5. Frequently asks others to repeat what they say; often feels incomprehensible to women and children.
6. Often misunderstood what other people say and react inappropriately as a result.
7. Often someone gets annoyed that you don't understand what he is saying, which has a serious impact on interpersonal relationships.
Even gradually isolated from society, do not communicate with others, self-isolation.
8. Cognitive decline, manifested as slower thinking activities, lack of perception and imagination, and lack of spatial awareness.
Studies have shown that presbycusis can greatly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
9. Decreased risk avoidance ability, decreased ability to perceive danger warning sounds in daily life (such as vehicle horns, fire alarms, reminders from surrounding people, etc.) problem appear.
10. There may be tinnitus, insomnia and other symptoms.