Do your parents have a hearing loss condition? If so, odds are you will develop one, too. Even if they don’t have symptoms, you may be at risk. Some hearing loss conditions are genetic and hereditary.
It’s estimated that half of all hearing loss cases are due to genetic and hereditary factors. Sometimes these factors may be dormant for a few generations before showing up again. But, even if your parents don’t have it, if someone in your family tree had a gene that signifies a hearing loss condition your risk is high.
In addition, most cases of hereditary or genetic loss fall into one of two categories: recessive or dominant.
Recessive is when both of your parents carry the gene. Even if they themselves do not have the condition. Seventy percent of all hearing loss from genetics stems from these types of cases.
When only one parent has the abnormal gene, it is a dominant hearing loss. This is dependent, of course, on that single parent’s ability to cause hearing loss with only one abnormal gene. The parent with the dominant gene may also have the same signs and symptoms for hearing loss. This type only makes up 15% of hearing loss accounts based on hereditary or genetic conditions.
Some examples of hereditary hearing loss conditions include otosclerosis, Pendred syndrome, and Usher’s syndrome.
Advancements in molecular biology have led to early detection. Consequently, early intervention has led to those with a congenital hearing loss to learn good communication skills and greater language development.
Final Thoughts
If hearing loss conditions are genetic and hereditary and you are in that lottery, all is not lost. Researchers are improving their detection methods. And, new hearing loss technologies are in the works.
