common cause hypothesis

Introduction

• hypothesis that a symptom & disorder do not cause one another, but result from a common cause
  • for example, hearing loss & dementia both result from a common neurodegenerative process in the aging brain
• hearing loss may result from degeneration of the stria vascularis, loss of hair cells & loss of afferent neurons in the central auditory pathways, but these are not the same neurodegenerative process underlying dementia

More general terms

• hypothesis