Can You Hear me? - By RBL

Can You Hear me?

This is my first blog post for my Disease class. This first unit was based on anatomy and learning about how different diseases can impact the human body. We began the class by looking at the main body systems. After that, we went on to talk about how different cancers could affect each system and how the systems could fend against them. We then split into smaller groups to look at the City Health Dashboard website. On the dashboard, we researched different diseases and different problems that are affecting the city and how corporations are fighting against some of the conflicts. This all led to our Action Project, which is to interview someone about a specific disease that they have or that they’ve had and talk about what parts of the body this disease affects. Hope you enjoy it!



Patient profile:

For this action project, the disease that I decided to study was otosclerosis. Before we get into otosclerosis we should talk about what sclerosis means. Sclerosis means that a bone is over growing. Otosclerosis is an ear disorder where a new bone forms around the insides of the ear which can cause hearing difficulties.




Medically the types of people who have the biggest risk of getting this disease are women of all ages. It can also be passed down through different genes from family or can develop while a person is pregnant. Another way this disease can develop is through overgrowing of bones inside the ear. When a bone isn’t growing the right way, it can also cause otosclerosis. This disease manifests as possible changes in bones and bone structure. It isn’t a communicable disease. Although people can’t see otosclerosis directly, they can notice if someone is having hearing issues. This disease directly affects the vestibular system which is a subset of the nervous system. The system itself receives soundwaves that allow us to hear. An example of how this disease can affect someone is if they are watching television and notice that they can’t hear clearly. Because of this they might have to resort to other means to improve their hearing. Some of the factors that can cause this disease are lack of water, measles, and sometimes the reason behind the disease can be unknown. This means that this disease is multifactorial.


Personally, I have a family member who has had otosclerosis for years. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at Northwestern University. When I interviewed her, she told me her symptoms first started when she was in her mid 30’s. Based on the fact that she was a woman in her mid 30’s, it suggests that she was at a high risk of getting the disease. She noticed that when she was talking on the phone her hearing felt like it was starting to fade. When she first went to her doctor, she was told that her hearing was fading on each ear.

Here’s an example of what otosclerosis might look inside of my family member’s ear:

“Otosclerosis drawing” drawn by RBL January 19th 

After hearing from the doctor at that time, her hearing loss wasn’t too significant. 4 years later her symptoms only got worse. She then decided to go to a different doctor. Some of the diagnostics she took in order to find this disease were to take hearing tests in order to test inner ear vibrations. After doing a hearing test she was diagnosed with otosclerosis. The bones that are a part of the vestibular system grew too big which caused a lack of vibration in her ears. With minimal vibrations, it made it really difficult for her to hear. In my family member’s case, the doctor gave her two options for treating her disease. One option was a stapedectomy. A stapedectomy is a surgery where doctors replace the bones in your middle ear with prosthetics that are artificial materials so the ears can get that vibration. At that time, my family member hadn't had any good experiences with surgeries, so she wasn’t thrilled with getting one. So, she decided to get hearing aids instead.

 Here’s an example of the kinds of hearing aids she wears:

"Receiver-in-the-ear open ear Oticon hearing aids" by ikesters is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

She told me that, “I was also really embarrassed to wear hearing aids at first. I first wore hearing aids for a practice period similar to having glasses.” My family member still wears hearing aids today and told me that she’s ok with wearing them because they improve her hearing significantly. With better technology the hearing aids will get better too.

Closing thoughts:

Overall, I enjoyed doing this action project because it allowed me to learn more about my family member’s life with this disease. It also made me think about how different diseases can impact people's lives and the people around them. It also pushes me to understand how her disease might affect her and how I can help her and understand how to see her thoughts.



Sources:


H.P personal interview

Noted January 16, 2022


The Royal Victorian eye and ear hospital. (n.d.). Ears - otosclerosis. Ears - otosclerosis - Better Health Channel. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/ears-otosclerosis