Ray Bayles <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Beethoven's problem has been described in many speech and hearing journals
>by world renowned experts.  There actually is a fair amount of agreement
>about the result.  Only the cause is left to debate.

There's agreement insofar that cochlear otosclerosis or otosclerosis of
the mixed type seems to be highly likely.  It can be a primary disease,
a disease by itself, without secondary background.  But it also can be
caused by various other diseases, including, for instance, syphilis.
Like researcher/medical expert Frimmel wrote many years ago, obviously
somewhat embarrassed:  "Beethoven's deafness was a symptom, the name of
the underlying disease is another one." He didn't dare to mention the
feared name!  These days experts agree that syphilis is not very likely
in Beethoven's case.  However, other underlying diseases are a possibility
indeed and often topic of heated debate, including the dernier cri, the
lead poisoning hypothesis.

>He couldn't hear much through these tricks because he wasn't confronted
>with silence.  Beethoven was suffering from a form of deafness that
>caused him to have a constant hissing and roaring noise.  He was problem
>overwhelmed some of the time from the noise that he sensed all the time.

Yes, he suffered from severe tinnitus, that's true. This is often the case
with otosclerosis.

Joyce Maier (mail to: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask])
www.ademu.com/Beethoven