There many reasons why a person loses his or her hearing. It can be either genetic, environmental, disease, medication, physical trauma or old age.
- Genetic: Hearing loss can be inherited. Both the dominant and recessive genes exists to cause mild to profound hearing loss and it may or may not be passed down to his or her offspring.
- Environmental: Long term loud noises can cause your hearing to degrade. Such noises can be working in a factory plant, attending loud concerts, and personal electronic devices such as IPODs.
- Diseases: There are many diseases out there that can affect the hearing. Such diseases may include mumps, autoimmune disorders, AIDS, meningitis, premature birth and fetal alcohol syndrome
- Medications: Some medications such as various types of antibiotics can cause irreversible damage to the ear, and are limited in their use for this reason.
- Physical Trauma: Childhood abuse victims and those with brain injuries are very vulnerable to hearing loss.
- Old Age: As we get into senior years, we tend to lose some hearing.
Source: www.chha.bc.org