How frequently do you think about your nervous system? For most individuals, the answer would probably be not that often. As long as your body is performing as it is supposed to, you have no reason to consider how your neurons are firing or whether nerves are sending correct messages through the electrical pathways of your body. But you tend to pay more attention when something goes wrong and the nerves start to misfire.
One distinct disease called Charot-Marie-Tooth Disease which generally affects the extremities can also have a fairly wide-scale affect on the whole nervous system. high-frequency hearing loss can also be triggered by CMT according to some evidence.
Charot-Marie-Tooth Disease, What is it?
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a set of inherited conditions. In essence, these genetic disorders cause something to go wrong with your nerves or with the protective sheathing surrounding your nerves.
There is a problem with the way signals travel between your brain and your nerves. A loss of motor function and sensation can be the result.
CMT can be present in a number of varieties and a mixture of genetic considerations normally result in its expressions. Symptoms of CMT commonly begin in the feet and go up to the arms. And, strangely, among those who have CMT, there is a higher rate of occurrence of high-frequency hearing loss.
The Cochlear Nerve: A Connection Between CMT and Hearing Loss
The connection between CMT and loss of hearing has always been colloquially established (that is, everybody knows someone who has a tells about it – at least within the CMT community). And it was tough to realize the connection between loss of sensation in the legs and problems with the ears.
A scientific study firmly established the connection just recently when a group of researchers examined 79 people with CMT at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The results were rather conclusive. Low to moderate frequencies were heard almost perfectly by those who had CMT. But high-frequency sounds (in the moderate region particularly) were effortlessly heard by all of the individuals. high-frequency hearing loss, according to this study, is likely to be associated with CMT.
The Cause of Hearing Loss and How to Treat It
The connection between high-frequency loss of hearing and CMT may, at first, seem perplexing. Like every other part of your body relies on properly functioning nerves. Your ears are exactly the same.
What many researchers hypothesize happens is that the cochlear nerve is affected by the CMT – interfering with your ear’s ability to interpret and transmit sounds in a high-frequency range. Certain sounds, including some voices, will be difficult to hear. Trying to hear voices in a crowded noisy room is especially hard.
This kind of hearing loss is commonly treated with hearing aids. There’s no known cure for CMT. Modern hearing aids can give tremendous help in terms of overcoming the effects of high-frequency loss of hearing, isolating only those ranges of sounds to boost. The majority of modern hearing aids can also work well in loud environments.
There Can be Many Causes For Hearing Loss
Beyond the unconfirmed theory, it’s still not well understood what the connection between CMT and high-frequency hearing loss. But hearing aid tech offers a definite solution to the symptoms of that hearing loss. That’s why many people who have CMT will take the time to get a consultation with a hearing care professional and get fitted for a custom hearing aid.
There are many causes for hearing loss symptoms. In some instances, hearing loss is caused by undesirable exposure to harmful noises. Obstructions can be yet another cause. It also looks like CMT is another possible cause.