How prevalent is the disease in the population?

Hereditary deafness is very common throughout the country. Most people would expect this disease to usually affect older people because age can come into consideration with this, but hereditary deafness affects every age.

• Of adults ages 65 and older in the United States, 12.3 percent of men and nearly 14 percent of women are affected by tinnitus.

• More than 4,000 infants born deaf each year, more than half have a hereditary disorder. However, not all hereditary hearing loss is present at birth. Some infants may inherit the tendency to acquire hearing loss later in life.

• Approximately 17 percent (36 million) of American adults report some degree of hearing loss.

• There is a strong relationship between age and reported hearing loss: 18 percent of American adults 45-64 years old, 30 percent of adults 65-74 years old, and 47 percent of adults 75 years old or older have a hearing impairment.

• About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. Nine out of every 10 children who are born deaf are born to parents who can hear.