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Now is the right time to get a set of good digital hearing instruments, there are no more obstacles blocking you from good hearing! Now you can reconnect with everyone in your life that you may have had a hard time hearing in the past! 

 Hear all the important people in your life again! Family, children, co-workers! there is nothing holding you back now!

Call or come in to see us now for a FREE hearing test do determine the state of your hearing, we also offer a Tinnitus assessment on  site, to set up an appointment call us at 905-273-7717 or visit www.Metro-Hearing-Tinnitus.com

Answers to your questions pt.1

In today’s article we want to answer the questions you have sent to us, regarding many different issues relating to hearing. These are the most common questions that we are asked during tests and consultations at our clinics. So we invite you to take a look at the questions and answers to our most commonly asked questions (arranged by the most popular).

1/ Can hearing aids fix my hearing?

Yes, in the sense of enhancing the work of hearing centers in the brain, improving the way they work and process hearing information. Physically the state of your ears will remain unchanged, but with hearing aids you will hear and understand audible sounds much better, you will notice a dramatic difference, especially with more advanced digital hearing aids.

2/ Am I making the right choice buying high-end hearing aids?

The difference between hearing aid types will be a deciding factor in our understanding of speech and aid with recognition as well as providing our brain with adequate levels of sound, and hindering the amount of distortion and noise signals for clearer and more pronounced understanding. Higher end hearing aids will also stimulate our brain, improving it’s overall efficiency, and will also cooperate with rehabilitation programs, used to aid in sharpening the mind and improving speech recognition. This may also soften the effects of debilitating diseases associated with aging such as dementia.

3/ Is it true that hearing aids are used in therapeutic programs designed to improve mental clarity and stability?

Yes, technologically advanced hearing aids have been successfully used in many therapeutic and rehabilitation programs, even in the case of a stroke, with the help of hearing aids speech recognition and understanding as well as the ability to speak has returned, not to mention the improvement in cognitive function. Hearing aids help with the creation of new links through the creation of neurons in the brain, through which our mind is able to take over the function of damaged areas, which may aid in reducing the effects of degenerative diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Research has been conducted in the last few years, proving the effectiveness of this method, especially when it came to technically advanced hearing aids.

4/ If I buy modern hearing aids will I be able to hear more and understand people?

You will definitely understand people better. This is where the difference starts, based on how different hearing aid clinics approach the matter. Unfortunately people buying hearing aids will not always get everything explained to them properly.

Not wearing hearing aids we lose the ability to understand speech (up to 20% yearly). Only wearing high quality hearing aids can stop and reverse this process. That’s why there are so many government programs in place to help people get hearing aids not to mention private insurance (and benefits) often covering up to 100% of the cost.

Even paying for the hearing aids yourself you need to remember that you are not just paying for the hearing aids but for the ability to hear and understand people again, engage in conversations and improve our speech and hearing recognition, the initial sum spent is not as important as the joy of being able to hear your family and friends every day clearly and loudly without noise.

Metro Hearing Clinic 905 273 7717 e-mail; metrohearing@gmail.com

Hearing Loss Linked to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

On April 7, 1989, in the 261 volume of The Journal of the American Medical Association, five American scientists published a paper “Relationship of Hearing Impairment to Dementia and Cognitive Dysfunction in Older Adults“. The authors demonstrated an association between hearing impairment and dementia. Since then, more research in this area has been conducted at numerous leading US and world universities. More recently, the relationship between a hearing impairment and Alzheimer's disease has been confirmed. The February 14, 2011 bulletin by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) carried the article by Elizabeth Agnvall “Hearing Loss Linked to Dementia. Even a mild hearing loss doubles the risk “. Excerpt reads:

“Adults with hearing loss are significantly more likely than adults with normal hearing to develop dementia, according to a new study out today from researchers at John's Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging. The study -- which finds the greater the hearing loss, the higher the risk – may open a new avenue of research into dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Man and woman in the study who experienced severe hearing loss were five times more likely to develop dementia than those with normal hearing. But even mild hearing loss doubled the risk of dementia.”

A new study published in the February 2011 issue of ARCHIVES OF NEUROLOGY (Vol. 68) confirmed what a lot of physicians who deal with hearing loss and dementia had suspected before: adults with hearing loss have a greater chance of developing dementia, and this risk increases as their hearing impairment worsens.

“This work suggests that there is a strong predictive association between hearing loss as an adult and the likelihood of developing cognitive decline with aging.”

According to study lead author Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, Chief of the U.S. National Institute on Aging Longitudinal Studies Section. The “COMMENT“ part of this paper states as follows:

“In this study, hearing loss was independently associated with all-cause dementia after adjustment for sex, age, race, education, diabetes, smoking, and hypertension, and our findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses. The risk of all-cause dementia increased log linearly with hearing loss severity, and for individuals older than 60 years in our cohort, more than one third of the risk of incident all cause dementia was associated with hearing loss.”

“According to several major studies, older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and dementia, compared to those with normal hearing. Further, the risk escalates, as person's hearing loss grows worse. Those with mild hearing impairment are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those with normal hearing. The risk increases three-fold for those with moderate hearing loss, and five-fold for those with severe impairment.“

And also:

“In response to these findings, further studies found that hearing aids can delay, or prevent, dementia and Alzheimer's disease by improving patients' hearing. Further, treating hearing loss with hearing aids can reduce many Alzheimer's symptoms for people with the disease.”

Should you require more information, we will be happy to provide people interested in this area of research with copies of the papers, articles, used for this issue of our newsletter as well as any new studies results published.

Alicja and Janusz Tobola from Metro Hearing Clinic Mississauga and Scarborough

 905 273 7717