How did they explain it?
(keep in mind that the Mayo clinic drs are hearing and likely have little contact with the Deaf Community or ASLers)
People who become Hoh or Deaf at 50+ typically have what is commonly called "Age related hearing loss". Basically the hairs in the ear which transmits sound start to fall out, and not regrow (the go bald), or they become brittle and unable to transmit sounds. Also many people of this age also have noise induced hearing loss from various things in life (noise induced hearing loss can happen with very loud noise over a short period of time, or moderately loud sounds over a long period of time.)
People with this type of hearing loss are very different than those who are late deafened (or LHoh) due to trauma/injury, illness/infection, or genetic issues.
