Understanding Your Relationship With Sound
Millions of Americans suffer from some level of hearing loss, and many never seek help, says Hillary Snapp, AuD., PhD., Chief of Audiology at the University of Miami Ear Institute.
“Individuals with hearing loss may not readily recognize that they’re experiencing a hearing loss. People will ask often to repeat or turn up the volume of sound,” says Dr. Snapp.
However, as hearing loss progresses, people may stop visiting places they once enjoyed, like restaurants and social gatherings.
Hearing Loss Can Lead to Depression, Anxiety, and Cognitive Decline
“Some of the psychosocial impacts of hearing loss are withdrawal, social isolation, depression, anxiety. Hearing loss has also been associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline. And some of the thoughts around that are because of the inability for people to really be fully engaged and communicate with their loved ones and the people around them,” Dr. Snapp says.
Inside the Auditory Spatial Perception Lab at the University of Miami Ear Institute, they study a patient’s ability to understand speech and background noise and to determine where sound is coming from.
“What is your real-world lived experience with hearing loss? How do we leverage your ability to access what hearing you have in order to improve your ability to navigate the world around you? Your ability to interact with others, even in a noisy environment? It’s a really exciting time to be working in this space. Technology is advancing. We are involved in a number of clinical trials for hearing devices and hearing implants, as well as other therapeutics,” says Dr. Snapp.
The University of Miami Ear Institute is at the forefront of advancing hearing health.
“We work readily with biomedical engineers, we work with public health, we work with genetics to help to innovate in therapies for hearing loss, to study those therapies, to evaluate their safety and their efficacy, which really positions us to be leaders in hearing and balance care,” Dr. Snapp explains.
She says hearing health is key to overall health.
“The sooner you come in and get your hearing checked, the sooner we can intervene with new, innovative, cutting-edge treatment options, which will only serve to improve your quality of life,” says Dr. Snapp.
Video transcript compiled by Janna Ross for ‘Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine,’ a series of health care-related stories airing regularly on WPLG Local 10. For more stories like this one, visit UHealth’s YouTube channel.
Tags: audiology, Dr. Hillary Snapp, focusing on you, hearing loss, University of Miami Ear Institute
