Do you invest much time considering your nervous system? For most people, the answer would most likely be not that frequently. Normally, you wouldn’t have to worry about how your neurons are sending signals to the nerves of your body. But when those nerves start to misfire – that is when something goes wrong – you begin to pay much more attention to your nervous system.
There’s one specific condition, known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, which can influence the nervous system on a relatively large scale, though the symptoms normally manifest mainly in the extremities. 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. The protective sheathing surrounding the nerves malfunction due to a genetic condition.
There is an issue with the way impulses move between your brain and your nerves. A loss in motor function and sensation can be the outcome.
CMT can be present in numerous varieties and a combination of genetic factors usually lead to its expressions. For most people who have CMT, symptoms start in the feet and can work their way up into their arms. And, high-frequency hearing loss, strangely, has a high rate of occurrence in those who have CMT.
A Connection Between Hearing Loss And CMT: The Cochlear Nerve
The connection between CMT and loss of hearing has always been colloquially recognized (that is, everyone knows somebody who has a tells about it – at least inside of the CMT community). And it seemed to mystify people who suffered from CMT – the ear didn’t appear all that related to the loss of sensation in the legs, for example.
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 findings were quite conclusive. Nearly everyone with CMT passed their low and moderate frequency hearing tests with flying colors. But high-frequency sounds (in the moderate region particularly) were easily heard by all of the individuals. According to this study, it seems probable that CMT can at least be linked to high-frequency loss of hearing.
The Cause of Hearing Loss and How to Deal With It
At first, it might be perplexing to attempt to figure out the connection between high-frequency hearing loss and CMT. But all of your body, from your eyebrows to your toes, relies on the correct functioning of nerves. That’s also the same for your ears.
What the majority of researchers hypothesize happens is that the cochlear nerve is impacted by the CMT – disrupting your ear’s ability to interpret and convey sounds in a high-frequency range. Anyone with this kind of hearing loss will have difficulty hearing some sounds, and that includes voices. Trying to hear voices in a crowded noisy room is especially difficult.
Hearing aids are commonly used to deal with this form of hearing loss. CMT has no known cure. Modern hearing aids can provide considerable help in terms of fighting the effects of high-frequency hearing loss, selecting only those ranges of sounds to boost. The majority of modern hearing aids can also perform well in noisy environments.
Hearing Loss Can Have A Number of Causes
Researchers still aren’t completely certain why CMT and hearing loss seem to co-exist quite so often (beyond their untested hypothesis). But hearing aid tech offers a clear treatment for the symptoms of that loss of hearing. That’s why countless individuals who have CMT will take the time to sit down with a hearing care professional and get fitted for a custom hearing aid.
Hearing loss symptoms can develop for numerous reasons. In many cases, hearing loss is triggered by undesirable exposure to damaging noises. Blockages can be yet another cause. It appears that CMT can be still another reason for hearing loss.