June 16, 2011 
The loss of vision and hearing loss in older people, as it seems, go hand in hand, the research found…
Australian scientists have come to this conclusion while investigating the cases of 2 000 people older than 70 years.
It turned out that the volunteers who have vision problems are more likely to begin to suffer from problems with hearing, and it appears that the cause of both disorders is the same.
Key sample was a group combined of the elderly who have difficulty with seeing. Selected people all had the same degree of damage, but while part of them can correct their eyesight with glasses and contact lenses, the rest of the group cannot see well regardless of whether they carry the visual aids or not.
It was established that 88 percent of all of them also have hearing problems.
Authors of the study from the University of Sydney believe that the cause of these disorders is the same, given that both phenomena are associated with aging.
However, apart from aging, disorders are caused by other favorable factors.
– Exposure to stress, smoking and atherosclerosis are the factors that are closely associated with the occurrence of poor hearing, cataracts and other disorders, according to a study.
Particularly high risk of such interference have those suffering from diabetes.
– The further course of study should help in understanding the specific relationship between vision loss and hearing loss in older people, which could help us with timely medical intervention and delay the occurrence of these disorders, which in the end, are nonetheless inevitable with age, said Sue Brown, a member of the research team.
Brown added that currently only in the UK 2 million people older than 65 years suffer from such a dual disorder.
– With aging of the population this problem will increasingly deepen, as the weakening of the senses of sight and hearing significantly hinders communication with the environment and the mobility, which certainly gives us the right to continue our research in order to delay the occurrence of these disorders for the longer period of time, says Brown.
Taken from: www.dnevnik.hr