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Suggest Treatment For Hearing Loss And Short Term Memory Loss In An Elderly Person
Question: causes of hearing loss in relation to short term memory. I have a 92 yr old Veteran staying at my house. He has no where else to go. But he is not my family. I have requested "in home care" from the Veterans. XXXXXXX can't do anything for himself. He can't walk or stand. He can push a walker around for about 15 minutes and he is done. He can't hear. The Veterans gave him disability because of his hearing loss.
BUT each day he is getting worse. He can't remember much. Where things are or where he left something. The Veterans don't believe loss of hearing should interfere with him taking care of himself. I need to help them understand his hearing loss is causing his to become lost in this world and he does need HELP on a daily basis. Please help me if you can.
BUT each day he is getting worse. He can't remember much. Where things are or where he left something. The Veterans don't believe loss of hearing should interfere with him taking care of himself. I need to help them understand his hearing loss is causing his to become lost in this world and he does need HELP on a daily basis. Please help me if you can.
Brief Answer:
his main issue is dementia
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I understand your problem and you're right that you can't do anything more than take care of him like you would have done for a baby! His main problem is dementia. Forgetfulness makes him dangerous to himself and the people around him (he could start a fire for example by mistake). You haven't mentioned anything worse like irrational thoughts or hallucinations but at later stages patients with dementia may experience such worsening. They may be even unable to eat without help not to mention remaining clean and keeping his environment clean.
Your friend needs help on a 24h basis. His hearing problem makes things worse. Unfortunately there is not much you (or he) can do to help. The hearing aid is his best chance. Perhaps a better device may help more but not much more usually. Regarding dementia there are some drugs but they won't make a big difference either. You should consult a neurologist for a detailed clinical assessment and perhaps treatment.
So in conclusion, his hearing problem wouldn't have mattered so much if didn't have dementia. Perhaps the Veterans didn't know about dementia? Dementia and hearing loss make things difficult. In later stages of dementia he's going to be like a baby in a huge body, so you'd better take him to a neurologist for a detailed assessment of his cognitive functions and perhaps treatment. The rest of his management is up to you. The decision for his residence is yours obviously...
I hope it helps!
Kind Regards!
his main issue is dementia
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I understand your problem and you're right that you can't do anything more than take care of him like you would have done for a baby! His main problem is dementia. Forgetfulness makes him dangerous to himself and the people around him (he could start a fire for example by mistake). You haven't mentioned anything worse like irrational thoughts or hallucinations but at later stages patients with dementia may experience such worsening. They may be even unable to eat without help not to mention remaining clean and keeping his environment clean.
Your friend needs help on a 24h basis. His hearing problem makes things worse. Unfortunately there is not much you (or he) can do to help. The hearing aid is his best chance. Perhaps a better device may help more but not much more usually. Regarding dementia there are some drugs but they won't make a big difference either. You should consult a neurologist for a detailed clinical assessment and perhaps treatment.
So in conclusion, his hearing problem wouldn't have mattered so much if didn't have dementia. Perhaps the Veterans didn't know about dementia? Dementia and hearing loss make things difficult. In later stages of dementia he's going to be like a baby in a huge body, so you'd better take him to a neurologist for a detailed assessment of his cognitive functions and perhaps treatment. The rest of his management is up to you. The decision for his residence is yours obviously...
I hope it helps!
Kind Regards!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
I only have training as a medical assistant. But what I understand is that the brain is a muscle and like all muscles it needs to be stimulated. Hearing is the stimulation. Not having that causes his forgetfulness which can lead into dementia. What I was hoping for was more of a explanation in that area. I definitely don't want the Veterans to think he needs to be put in a home. He's not there yet. His wife of 68 years died last July. A couple of days later his daughter slapped him around and physically through him out of the house. He was 91 and had just lost his wife. The police were called and XXXXXXX showed up at my house. I was married to his son in 1970 and divorced him in 1973. But after 38 years of having nothing to do with this family I heard that Mark, his son was in the hospital not expected to live. He needed someone to care for him. So I locked up my home and I took care of him the last 6 months of his life. Reuniting the old family connection. Then when Lorene, his wife was ill she requested I stay with her. She only lived 2 weeks with me at her side. This is how XXXXXXX ended up here. I just thought some background on this might help so that you don't think I'm crazy for having him in my home. His son I loved and I always loved my mother in law. But XXXXXXX was just XXXXXXX to me. But I can see why he ended up here. There is no other family other than the daughter that through him out. I work to pay the bills. My dealing with XXXXXXX should be a full time job. This can only happen if I can help the Veterans see that Frank's disability is connected to his hearing. What I need is an explanation of the connection between - hearing loss and disabilities. As I said before they believe his hearing loss should not interfere with him taking care of himself. I hope this will help. As they say, just the facts, please.
Brief Answer:
I'm afraid you got it wrong...
Detailed Answer:
There is a misunderstanding here. Of course the brain needs stimulation for the cognitive functions to be kept at a good level. Hearing is another thing. A human's ability hear the sounds and interpret them as meaningful voices or anything else develops very early in life. A newborn with impaired hearing will never manage to understand the sounds if its hearing is corrected too late.
In old individuals though this is not the case. The ability to hear and understand the sounds is there and does not require continuous stimulation to remain intact. When hearing is impaired the individual cannot hear and that's all. If hearing aids can provide substantial improvement then their hearing ability returns. This has nothing to do with forgetfulness which is an entirely different disorder.
Actually I'm very curious how the veterans focused on his hearing problem and ignored dementia! Dementia is by far a more serious reason to prevent him from taking care of himself. Perhaps his dementia was not that serious at the time, I don't know...
I have to say that what you're doing for him is great and requires great strength to deal with such problems when he's really a stranger to you.
So in conclusion, I'm afraid there is no ground to argue that his hearing problem causes forgetfulness. His forgetfulness is caused by dementia, perhaps due to his age. An expert in dementia should assess his condition and perhaps suggest treatment. You should discuss the hearing problems with an ENT specialist, mainly the inadequate effectiveness of the hearing aids. Perhaps the ENT will have an alternative, like a better device or a more suitable device for him.
Kind Regards!
I'm afraid you got it wrong...
Detailed Answer:
There is a misunderstanding here. Of course the brain needs stimulation for the cognitive functions to be kept at a good level. Hearing is another thing. A human's ability hear the sounds and interpret them as meaningful voices or anything else develops very early in life. A newborn with impaired hearing will never manage to understand the sounds if its hearing is corrected too late.
In old individuals though this is not the case. The ability to hear and understand the sounds is there and does not require continuous stimulation to remain intact. When hearing is impaired the individual cannot hear and that's all. If hearing aids can provide substantial improvement then their hearing ability returns. This has nothing to do with forgetfulness which is an entirely different disorder.
Actually I'm very curious how the veterans focused on his hearing problem and ignored dementia! Dementia is by far a more serious reason to prevent him from taking care of himself. Perhaps his dementia was not that serious at the time, I don't know...
I have to say that what you're doing for him is great and requires great strength to deal with such problems when he's really a stranger to you.
So in conclusion, I'm afraid there is no ground to argue that his hearing problem causes forgetfulness. His forgetfulness is caused by dementia, perhaps due to his age. An expert in dementia should assess his condition and perhaps suggest treatment. You should discuss the hearing problems with an ENT specialist, mainly the inadequate effectiveness of the hearing aids. Perhaps the ENT will have an alternative, like a better device or a more suitable device for him.
Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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