Presbycusis

Question 1

what is it?

Answer 1

degenerative disorder of the cochlea

Question 2

what causes it?

Answer 2

typically a result of old age - age in itself isn't a cause of outer hair loss but environmental noise toxicity over the years is a major factor 
can be because of 
o loss of outer hair cells (sensory)
o Loss of ganglion cells (neural)
o Strial atrophy (metabolic)
o Can be a mixed picture

Question 3

how does it present?

Answer 3

Gradual onset
Higher frequencies are affected most
The high frequencies in speech are the constants and the low frequencies the vowels – when the high frequency constants are loss, speech is unintelligible

Question 4

how is it managed?

Answer 4

a high frequency specific hearing aid

Question 5

what is noise-induced hearing loss?

Answer 5

cochlear damage can occur from loud noise e.g. shooting without ear protection