10 Hearing Loss Facts
Posted by CENTURY HEARING
- Almost 50 million Americans have hearing loss in at least one ear, including 1 in 5 teenagers.
- 60% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan come home with hearing loss and tinnitus; it is the #1 war wound.
- Depression and isolation are common among those with hearing loss.
- Those with a mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and this risk increases with the severity of the hearing loss.
- Over a six-year study, the cognitive abilities of older adults (ages 75 to 84) with hearing loss declined 30% to 40% faster than in older adults whose hearing was normal. On average, older adults with hearing loss developed a significant impairment in their cognitive abilities 3.2 years sooner than those with typical hearing
- Men are more likely than women to experience hearing loss.
- In the United States, three out of every 1,000 children are born deaf or hard-of-hearing.
- Hearing loss becomes more prevalent with age; hearing impairment occurs in about 18% of American adults between ages 45 and 54, 30% of adults between ages 65 and 74, and 47% of adults ages 75 and older.
- About 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 69 have high frequency hearing loss due to exposure to loud noises at work or in leisure activities.
- High levels of cotinine, the chemical that indicates exposure to tobacco smoke and second-hand smoke has been directly linked to higher risks of some types of hearing loss.
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