What is an Audiologist? Audiologists are health-care professionals - PDF document

10/5/2018 What is an Audiologist? • Audiologists are health-care professionals (aka clinical doctors like dentists or optometrists) who evaluate, HEARING LOSS & COGNITIVE diagnose, treat, manage: hearing loss, DECLINE tinnitus, and balance disorders in newborns, children, and adults. 2018 Laguna Woods Presentation by: • Audiology is a well-respected and Dr. Stephani Rose of House-Providence highly recognized profession, practicing Hearing Health Centers https://houseprovidence.org/our-locations/orange-county/ at the doctoral level since 2012. • www.howsyourhearing.org ** Effects of Hearing Loss • Listening Takes Effort • We “hear” with our brains not with our ears Hearing Loss Affects the Brain** How your brain makes sense of sound** • The brain is hardwired to receive certain details of sound in order to make sense of it all. • When it doesn’t get the correct details it has to work harder • Listening effort is increased. 1

10/5/2018 What is Mild Cognitive COMMON SIGNS OF Impairment (MCI) HEARING DIFFICULTY** • Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is an You tend to limit It’s harder to intermediate stage between the expected follow a social activities conversation in because it’s difficult cognitive decline of normal aging and the People seem to meetings, to hear or be mumbling more-serious decline of dementia. restaurants or communicate noisy places • It can involve problems with memory , language , thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes • www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mild-cognitive- impairment/home/ovc-20206082 WHAT IS DEMENTIA? Role of the Audiologist & Cognitive Decline • Very common , More than 3 million US cases per year • Treatment can help, but it can't be cured • Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong • Communication Difficulties = one of the • Requires a medical diagnosis : Lab tests or imaging earliest signs of dementia. often required • Audiologists are responsible for making timely • Not a specific disease, dementia is a group of and appropriate referrals conditions characterized by impairment of at least • This can improve long term outcomes two brain functions , such as memory loss and judgment. • Provide earlier diagnosis and • Symptoms include forgetfulness, limited social skills, and management of cognitive decline thinking abilities so impaired that it interferes with daily • -Audiology Today Magazine , Vol 28 No 5; functioning. pg 16 • Medications and therapies may help manage symptoms. Some causes are reversible. Statistics on Hearing Loss & TYPES OF DEMENTIA Dementia • Hearing loss- 3 rd most common health problem in • Alzheimer’s Disease the US next to Arthritis (#2) and Heart Disease (#1) • Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) • 1 in 3 people over 60 years old have hearing loss • Vascular Dementia • 1 in 6 baby boomers have hearing loss • Frontotemporal Dementia • Very few people have no cognitive decline with age • Parkinson’s Disease • 2010, 4.7 million people in US over 65 years old had • Huntington’s Dementia most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. • Traumatic Brain Injury • 2016, this number grew to 5.4 million • Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome • By 2050, 13.8 million Americans expected to have Alzheimer’s disease • Mixed Dementia • Large overlap of older adults with both hearing loss & • Post-operative Cognitive Dysfunction cognitive decline (POCD) • -Audiology Today Magazine , Vol 28 No 5; pg 16 2

10/5/2018 TYPES OF DEMENTIA TYPES OF DEMENTIA • Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) • 20% of all dementia cases , 2nd most common type. • Alzheimer’s Disease • Abnormal protein structures called Lewy Bodies appear in brain causing brain cells to die. • Most common form of dementia (2/3 of all cases) • Can develop after many years of Parkinson’s disease • Caused by plaques and tangles which disrupt normal (Parkinson’s Disease Dementia). nerve cell function in the brain. • Symptoms: Vivid complex visual hallucinations, fluctuating • First symptom: Short-term memory loss alertness and motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: unsteady gait, stiffness, flexed posture. • Other symptoms: difficulty learning new info, problems • People with DLB are at increased risk for falls. thinking and organizing, poor judgment, confusion, difficulty speaking and personality & behavior changes • Average life expectancy is 7 years after symptoms appear . • These changes from AD occur in the brain many • Vascular Dementia- years before symptoms appear. • Caused by cerebrovascular problems . • Average life expectancy = 8-12 years after • Like several small strokes or one large stroke diagnosis. • www.Silveradocare.com/dementia -www.Silveradocare.com/dementia TYPES OF DEMENTIA TYPES OF DEMENTIA • Huntington’s Dementia • Frontotemporal Dementia • 10-15% of all dementia cases. • AKA Huntington’s Chorea- a hereditary progressive brain disorder caused by a defective gene. • A group of neurodegenerative disorders affecting the frontal and temporal lobes of brain. • Causes changes in the central area of the brain, affecting movement, mood and thinking skills. • Typically affects younger people ages 45-60 years old. • Symptoms develop between 30-50 years old. • “Tau” protein collects in brain, creating tangles, causing cell • Average life expectancy is 15 years after diagnosis. damage. • Parkinson’s Disease • Traumatic Brain Injury • Neurological disorder affects brain, spinal cord & nerves • Caused by impact to the head, disrupts normal brain function (often caused • Destroys nerve cells that make dopamine (a chemical that helps by falls and car accidents) get messages between cells in the brain) • May affect cognitive abilities including learning and thinking skills. • Brain changes caused by abnormal deposits of alpha-synulein • 3 classifications: Mild, Moderate or Severe protein , called Lewy Bodies. • Symptoms may include: unconsciousness, confusion and disorientation, • Symptoms: begin with movement issues (resting tremor, shuffling difficulty remembering new info, headache, dizziness and blurry vision, gait, and stooped posture) and progresses to memory loss, the inability nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), trouble speaking to pay attention and to make sound judgments. coherently and changes in emotions and sleeping patterns. • Develops gradually, starts after age 50 and affects more men than • -www.Silveradocare.com/dementia women. -www.Silveradocare.com/dementia TYPES OF DEMENTIA TYPES OF DEMENTIA • Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome • Two different stages of the same condition: caused by vitamin B1 (Thiamine) deficiency, associated with malnutrition and • Post-operative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD) alcoholism. • Treatment is medically monitored: person must stop drinking • A decline in cognitive function that lasts for weeks, months, or alcohol and take vitamin B1; this will resolve many symptoms may become permanent after surgery. except for memory loss which is permanent. • People with undiagnosed dementia or Mild Cognitive • Mixed Dementia Impairment at greater risk for developing POCD • May cause impairment in memory, concentration, • Symptoms and damage are characteristic of more than one type comprehension or language ability of dementia and occur at same time. • Currently, specific causes are unknown and research shows: • Most common types which occur together are: Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular dementia, and dementia with Lewy Bodies. • No difference whether local or general anesthesia is used • Length of surgery is NOT a factor • More common than previously thought- Autopsies have shown • Open heart surgery patients have greater risk of developing POCD vs those that 45% of people with dementia have both Alzheimer’s disease who had other long and complicated surgeries and Vascular dementia. • People experiencing POCD at their discharge have an increased • Average life expectancy depends on the types of dementias risk of dying within first three months following surgery. diagnosed. -www.Silveradocare.com/dementia -www.Silveradocare.com/dementia 3