Unfortunately, this may in some cases (late implantation or not sufficient benefit from cochlear implants) bring the risk of language deprivation for the deaf baby because the deaf baby would not have a sign language if the child is unable to acquire spoken language successfully. The 5–10% of cases of deaf babies born into signing families have the potential of age-appropriate development of language due to early exposure to a sign language by sign-competent parents, thus they have the potential to meet language milestones, in sign language in lieu of spoken language. Causes
Hearing loss has multiple causes, including ageing, genetics, perinatal problems and acquired causes like noise and disease. For some kinds of hearing loss the cause may be classified as of unknown cause. There is a progressive loss of ability to hear high frequencies with aging known as presbycusis. For men, this can start as early as 25 and women at 30. Although genetically variable, it is a normal concomitant of ageing and is distinct from hearing losses caused by noise exposure, toxins or disease agents. Common conditions that can increase the risk of hearing loss in elderly people are high blood pressure, diabetes, or the use of certain medications harmful to the ear. While everyone loses hearing with age, the amount and type of hearing loss is variable.Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), also known as acoustic trauma, typically manifests as elevated hearing thresholds (i.e. less sensitivity or muting).
They used data from two noise and hearing study databases, one presented by Burns and Robinson (Hearing and Noise in Industry, Her Majestys Stationery Office,  London, 1970) and by Passchier-Vermeer (1968). As race are some of the factors that can affect the expected distribution of pure-tone hearing thresholds several other national or regional datasets exist, from Sweden,  Norway, South Korea, the United States and Spain.In the United States hearing is one of the health outcomes measure by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a survey research program conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. It examines health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. Data from the United States in 2011-2012 found that rates of hearing loss has declined among adults aged 20 to 69 years, when compared with the results from an earlier time period (1999-2004). It also found that adult hearing loss is associated with increasing age, sex, ethnicity, educational level, and noise exposure. Nearly one in four adults had audiometric results suggesting noise-induced hearing loss. Almost one in four adults who reported excellent or good hearing had a similar pattern (5.5% on both sides and 18% on one side). Among people who reported exposure to loud noise at work, almost one third had such changes. Social and cultural aspects
People with extreme hearing loss may communicate through sign languages. Sign languages convey meaning through manual communication and body language instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns.