WEBVTT - What Can Modern Hearing Aids Do?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Boglebaum. Here. There was a time

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<v Speaker 1>when hearing aids may have seemed too many people like clunky,

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<v Speaker 1>uncomfortable gadgets that were awkward to wear. But today these

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<v Speaker 1>devices are often so small and thin that they're mostly

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<v Speaker 1>hidden behind the ear lobes, and you can adjust these

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<v Speaker 1>hearing aids with a few taps on a smartphone app

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<v Speaker 1>to make it easier to hear in whatever environment you

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<v Speaker 1>find yourself in. They're so sleek that marketers of the

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<v Speaker 1>latest products described them with the kind of language you'd

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<v Speaker 1>expect from car commercials, and they come with all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of modern features. For example, one product called the Horizon

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<v Speaker 1>uses an algorithm to improve speech clarity and can interact

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<v Speaker 1>with smartphones and other devices to handle phone calls, stream

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts and audio books, and even audio from television. And

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<v Speaker 1>another product, the Olivio AI hearing aid, uses artificial intelligence

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<v Speaker 1>and integrated sensors to not only make it easier to

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<v Speaker 1>hear what people are saying, but also can work with

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<v Speaker 1>a smartphone to track physical and brain activity, and has

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<v Speaker 1>a feature that can translate foreign languages for wearers. Hearing

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<v Speaker 1>aids are making technological leaps at a time when hearing

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<v Speaker 1>loss seems to be on the rise, both in the

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<v Speaker 1>US and elsewhere in the world. Some hearing loss is

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<v Speaker 1>the result of aging, heredity, or illnesses such as meningitis

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<v Speaker 1>that can damage the ears, but exposure to loud sounds,

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<v Speaker 1>which was once mostly a problem for industrial workers, is

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<v Speaker 1>a growing problem in our increasingly noisy world. Study by

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<v Speaker 1>University of Michigan researchers found that about nine out of

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<v Speaker 1>ten New York City residents were chronically exposed two levels

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<v Speaker 1>of noise that were high enough to harm their hearing.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of the risk comes from traffic and other environmental sounds,

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<v Speaker 1>but we inflict a lot of punishment on our ears

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<v Speaker 1>simply by attending sports events and concerts. If you go

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<v Speaker 1>to these events where earplugs, listening to music through earbuds

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<v Speaker 1>and cranking up the volume to drown out the ambient

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<v Speaker 1>noise that the buds let in also does damage. As

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<v Speaker 1>a result, more and more of us are having problems

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<v Speaker 1>with our hearing at younger ages. One survey of two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred and thirty nine US adults by the American

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<v Speaker 1>Speech Language Hearing Association found that fewer than half of

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<v Speaker 1>forty nine percent described their hearing is excellent, while thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight percent so that they're hearing wasn't as good as

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<v Speaker 1>it could be, and thirteen percent so that they were

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<v Speaker 1>having difficulty hearing. But despite this, only about twenty percent

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<v Speaker 1>of the people in the poll had had their hearing

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<v Speaker 1>tested in the past five years, compared to sixty one

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<v Speaker 1>percent who had had vision tests, who had had their

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<v Speaker 1>blood pressure checked, and forty one percent who had had

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<v Speaker 1>their cholesterol levels tested or undergone mammograms. Hearing tests were

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<v Speaker 1>even less popular than procedures such as prostrate exams and

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<v Speaker 1>kolonoscopy's twenty three percent, and only six percent of people

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<v Speaker 1>in the survey said that they had gotten treatment for

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<v Speaker 1>hearing loss. For the article that this episode is based on,

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Work, spoke by email with Atlanta resident Kristin Palladino,

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<v Speaker 1>the editorial director and co founder of Equally Wed, an

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<v Speaker 1>lgbt Q plus wedding publication, who happens to have been

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<v Speaker 1>born with severe hearing loss in both of her ears.

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<v Speaker 1>She doesn't even remember when she was first fitted for

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<v Speaker 1>hearing aids. She said, I know that I put them

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<v Speaker 1>in my desk drawer in third grade and refused to

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<v Speaker 1>wear them. I was so embarrassed of them. I just

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to blend in, and I felt like I stood out. Palladino,

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<v Speaker 1>who is now forty three, says it wasn't until she

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<v Speaker 1>was failing her college courses because she was missing key

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<v Speaker 1>information that she finally went to an audiologist and got

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<v Speaker 1>hearing aids again. How Stuff Works also spoke with Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Hope Lantern, the lead audiologist for here dot com, which

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<v Speaker 1>is an online source for hearing aids from various manufacturers

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<v Speaker 1>and also offers access to a nationwide net work of

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<v Speaker 1>audiologists who can provide in person testing and guidance. She

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<v Speaker 1>explains that waiting to get help can be a problem

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<v Speaker 1>because the longer someone allows hearing loss to continue, the

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<v Speaker 1>worst the problem will become, and the more difficult it

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<v Speaker 1>will be to remedy. Though the ears pick up sound,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really the brain that analyzes and makes sense of

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<v Speaker 1>all that noise, and over time, auditory deprivation will lead

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<v Speaker 1>to reduced activity in the parts of the brain that

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<v Speaker 1>process sound. However, the brain is always changing, and you

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<v Speaker 1>can get at least some of that activity back. Once

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<v Speaker 1>a person with hearing loss starts using hearing aids, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a period of adjustment. Initially, the rush of unfamiliar sound

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<v Speaker 1>may be disconcerting or overwhelming. Gradually, though, as a hearing

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<v Speaker 1>aid user adjusts and gets to the right settings with

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<v Speaker 1>the help of an audiologist, the regular exposure to sound

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<v Speaker 1>can help the brain essentially rewire itself. Lanter says that

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<v Speaker 1>brain imaging study show audio crossing areas gaining and areas

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<v Speaker 1>to provide visual processing, reducing the load that they've been carrying.

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<v Speaker 1>Palladino said, with my hearing aids, I can hear my children,

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<v Speaker 1>my wife, the rain, strangers in stores trying to get

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<v Speaker 1>my attention, an ambulance blasting its siren behind me in

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<v Speaker 1>the road. I'm able to function in society without them.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm isolated and vulnerable, and technologically advanced hearing aids can

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<v Speaker 1>actually help make that transition easier. The aforementioned horizon has

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<v Speaker 1>a feature called relaxed mode, which allows a wearer to

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<v Speaker 1>block out the noise of the world for a while

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<v Speaker 1>and distress with calming sounds. That ability to take breaks

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<v Speaker 1>and still keep the device in the ear has another

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<v Speaker 1>plus by making it less likely that the wearer will

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<v Speaker 1>remove the hearing aids temporarily and then forget to put

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<v Speaker 1>them back in. Of course, hearing aids aren't the be all,

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<v Speaker 1>end all to improving the lives of deaf and heart

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<v Speaker 1>of hearing individuals. If you or someone you know is

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<v Speaker 1>experiencing hearing loss and you're not sure what to do,

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<v Speaker 1>or if you just want to learn more, check out

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<v Speaker 1>the work of organizations like the National Association of the Death.

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<v Speaker 1>There is so much work and advocacy being done, from

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<v Speaker 1>personal education to better healthcare, to more accessible technologies to

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<v Speaker 1>governmental policy. Today's episode is based on the article modern

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<v Speaker 1>hearing aids do way more than help you here on

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com, written by Patrick Jake Hyder.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuff works dot Com and is produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Playing. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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