How frequently do you contemplate your nervous system? For the majority of individuals, the answer would probably be not very frequently. As long as your body is performing in the way that it is supposed to, you’ve no reason to think about how your neurons are firing or whether nerves are sending proper messages along the electrical pathways of your body. But when those nerves start to misfire – that is when something goes wrong – you begin to pay a lot more attention to your nervous system.
One distinct disease called Charot-Marie-Tooth Disease which normally affects the extremities can also have a fairly wide-scale affect on the whole nervous system. And there’s some evidence to suggest that CMT can also cause high-frequency loss of hearing.
What Is Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease?
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 around your nerves.
The result is that the signals sent from your brain to those nerves (and from those nerves back to your brain) don’t work all that well. A loss of motor function and sensation can be the outcome.
CMT can be found in several varieties and a combination of genetic considerations normally result in its expressions. Symptoms of CMT commonly begin in the feet and work their way up to the arms. And, high-frequency hearing loss, curiously, has a high rate of occurrence in those who have CMT.
The Cochlear Nerve: A Connection Between CMT and Hearing Loss
The link between CMT and hearing loss has always been colloquially recognized (that is, everybody knows somebody who has a tells about it – at least within the CMT culture). And it was difficult to recognize the connection between loss of sensation in the legs and issues with the ears.
A scientific study firmly established the connection just recently when a group of scientists evaluated 79 people with CMT at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The results were quite conclusive. Nearly everyone who has CMT passed their low and moderate frequency hearing tests with flying colors. But high-frequency sounds (in the moderate region in particular) were effortlessly heard by all of the individuals. high-frequency hearing loss, according to this research, is likely to be linked to CMT.
What is The Cause of Hearing Loss And How Can it be Addressed?
At first, it may be puzzling to try to figure out the link between high-frequency hearing loss and CMT. But all of your body, from your toes to your eyebrows, relies on the proper functioning of nerves. Your ears are the same.
What most researchers hypothesize happens is that the cochlear nerve is affected by the CMT – disrupting your ear’s ability to translate and convey sounds in a high-frequency range. Some sounds, including some voices, will be difficult to hear. Trying to hear voices in a crowded noisy room is especially difficult.
Hearing aids are commonly used to manage this form of hearing loss. CMT has no renowned cure. Modern hearing aids can select the exact frequencies to boost which can give considerable help in battling high-frequency hearing loss. In addition, most modern hearing aids can be adjusted to work well in noisy settings.
Multiple Causes of Hearing Loss
Experts still aren’t entirely sure why CMT and hearing loss seem to co-exist quite so often (beyond their untested hypothesis). But this form of hearing loss can be successfully addressed using hearing aids. So scheduling an appointment to get a fitting for hearing aids will be a smart decision for people who suffer from CMT.
Hearing loss symptoms can surface for several reasons. In some instances, hearing loss is caused by undesirable exposure to harmful noises. In other circumstances, loss of hearing could be the consequence of an obstruction. It also looks as if CMT is another possible cause.