Deafness (deafness)

Deafness (Latin: Surditas) is defined as severe hearing loss or complete deafness. The degree of deafness is differentiated between absolute and practical deafness. Absolute deafness means that the person affected cannot perceive any sounds. In the case of practical deafness, hearing of various sounds and noises is possible, but to too small an extent to understand spoken language.

The loss of hearing does not necessarily have to be due to damage to the peripheral hearing organ (which includes the outer, middle and inner ear). The cause may also be a failure of the cochlear nerves (auditory nerves) or the areas of the brain responsible for hearing, as well as certain psychological disorders.

In principle, all diseases that cause hearing loss can, in the worst case, also lead to absolute deafness. There is also the possibility of congenital deafness.

Possible causes of congenital de afness would be:

• genetic deafness, such as occurs in Down's syndrome
• infectious diseases such as rubella during pregnancy
• Alcohol abuse, drug use, or the use of certain harmful medications during pregnancy.
• Lack of oxygen or brain bleeding of the newborn during birth

The following diseases/causes can cause deafness to develop during life(acquired deafness):

• Infections of the ear such as flu otitis (ear infection during flu), zoster oticus (herpes zoster infection of the ears), Lyme disease, meningitis (meningitis), or mumps
• deafness caused by acute acoustic trauma
• chronic noise-induced hearing loss
• Certain drugs such as aminoglycosides, quinine, etacrynic acid, furosemide, salicylic acid, cisplatin can cause hearing loss.
• industrial pollutants such as nitrobenzene, carbon monoxide or aniline
• Injuries to the peripheral hearing organ, such as a skull base fracture
• Tumors that press on the cochlear nerve or auditory nuclei in the brain

Poor hearing, which is not sufficient to understand speech or that generally no sounds and noises can be perceived, represents the leading symptom.

The diagnosis of deafness is made by special hearing tests. There are numerous disorders from which deafness must be diagnostically differentiated:

• active deafness - the affected person behaves as if he or she does not hear anything
• severe hearing loss
• autism
• delays in speech development
• mental retardation
• presence of schizophrenia, which is accompanied by alogia (lack of speech) and isolation from external impressions
• social phobia and severe anxiety syndromes

Whether the cause of deafness lies in one of these disorders can be checked by special tests and analyses of social and language behaviour.

Since natural hearing cannot normally be restored, treatment is geared towards helping those affected with hearing aids or learning alternative ways of communicating with other people so that they can cope better in everyday life.

The only way to ensure that deaf children are not slowed down in their mental and speech development is to detect deafness as early as possible and treat it accordingly.

The following options are available for treatment:

• With the help of hearing aids, hearing comprehension can be restored if those affected still have their own residual hearing.
• A cochlear implant can be used to replace the hearing function of the ear in cases of severe hearing loss or deafness - sound waves are transmitted to the middle ear as electronic impulses. However, it takes a long time of training until the electronic stimuli can be assigned to environmental sounds.
• The learning of sign language as well as spoken language.
• Learning to read lips.
• The early support of deaf children in special schools with the help of targeted hearing and speech training as well as speech education.

The prognosis is strongly dependent on the timing of the therapy. The earlier deafness is detected and treated, the better the chances of coping with everyday life.

Except for chronic noise-induced hearing loss, which is triggered by severe noise exposure over a very long period of time, deafness is difficult to prevent. The numerous, serious trigger factors (such as severe illness or accidents) or congenital deafness cannot be prevented.