Tinnitus: An Evolutionary Phenomenon

Tinnitus is defined as a phantom auditory perception-it is a perception of sound without corresponding acoustic or mechanical correlates in the cochlea.Tinnitus represents one of the most common and distressing otologic problems, and it causes various somatic and psychological disorders that interfere with the quality of life. A population-based study of hearing loss in adults aged 48 to 92 years found that tinnitus had a prevalence of 8.2% at baseline and an incidence of 5.7% during a 5-year follow-up. The prevalence of tinnitus increases with age.

Tinnitus also represents a common symptom among children with hearing loss. Tinnitus is a subjective phenomenon that is difficult to evaluate objectively, with it being measured, quantified, and described only based on the responses of patients. Although tinnitus can have many different causes, it most commonly results from otologic disorders, with the most common cause believed to be noise-induced hearing loss. The various therapeutic approaches to tinnitus have produced mixed results, and hence it is generally assumed that tinnitus has diverse physiological causes.

Causes of Tinnitus:

Tinnitus does not represent a disease itself but instead is a symptom of a variety of underlying diseases. Otologic causes include noise-induced hearing loss, presbycusis, otosclerosis, otitis, impacted cerumen, sudden deafness, Meniere's disease, and other causes of hearing loss. Neurologic causes include head injury, whiplash, multiple sclerosis, vestibular schwannoma (commonly called an acoustic neuroma), and other cerebellopontine-angle tumors. Infectious causes include otitis media and sequelae of Lyme disease, meningitis, syphilis, and other infectious or inflammatory processes that affect hearing. Tinnitus is also a side effect of some oral medications, such as salicylates, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aminoglycoside antibiotics, loop diuretics, and chemotherapy agents (e.g., platins and vincristine). Temporomandibular-joint dysfunction and other dental disorders can also cause tinnitus. However, in many cases no underlying physical cause is identifiable. For many years, hearing loss has been understood to be the most common cause of tinnitus, and population-based data indicate that excessive noise exposure represents the second most common cause of tinnitus. However, about 40% of patients cannot identify any cause associated with tinnitus onset

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Lisa M

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Journal of phonetics and audiology

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