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Thank you for your trust in the past. Ray Schilling, MD
**Closure of my websites askdrray.com and nethealthbook.com**

These websites will be taken down on **April 30, 2025** and no further updates will be provided.
I hope you enjoyed the content of these websites. You can continue to read Dr. Schilling’s blogs which I publish daily on Quora

My home page there is: ** https://www.quora.com/profile/Ray-Schilling**

Click on this: Under my image there is a heading “Profile”. Right underneath this you find a search box entitled “search content”. Type in any term you are interested in. You will get several answers I have written (I have written more than 15,000 answers).

On Quora you can also write comments that I will answer.

Thank you for your trust in the past. Ray Schilling, MD
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Presbycusis

Presbycusis is due to the accumulative hearing loss with age.

When people age their hearing is not as astute as in their younger years. This is because many people develop sensorineural hearing loss. It is not entirely known how much of this is due to genetic factors and and how much is due to environmental factors. Also, males are more affected by this than females.

There seems to be a stiffening of a membrane in the inner ear that is essential for hearing. Also, the hair cells that register the different frequencies and the nerve pathways age. Presbycusis affects the higher frequencies first (18 to 20 khz). In many males above age 55 to 60 the frequencies of 4 to 8 khz are affected, and this is when the person has problems with speech discrimination. They complain that they cannot understand conversations at noisy parties or against the background of any noisy environment. They feel that people around them “mumble”. An assessment by an ENT specialist is warranted and often hearing aids will be prescribed with success.

 Presbycusis

Presbycusis

 

References:

1. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 84.

2. Noble: Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, 3rd ed.,2001, Mosby Inc.

3. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 85.

4. Rakel: Conn’s Current Therapy 2001, 53rd ed.,2001, W. B. Saunders Company

5. Goldman: Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 21st ed.,2000, W. B. Saunders Company

6. Mandell: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, 5th ed.,2000, Churchill Livingstone, Inc.

7. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 265.

8. MF Williams: Otolaryngol Clin North Am; Oct1999; 32(5): 819-834.

9. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 106.

10. Ferri: Ferri’s Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc.

11. Rakel: Conn’s Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

Last modified: September 16, 2014

Disclaimer
This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.