Study shows ear infections may be caused by air pollution

Childhood ear infections are so prevalent in the USA that they cost billions of dollars to treat every year.

Researchers at UCLA and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have determined that there is a significant correlation between childhood ear infections and air quality, with an increased rate of infection in geographical areas effected by air pollution and a steady decrease in infections as air quality improves.

For more details, please see the linked article at the AudiologyOnline website: http://www.audiologyonline.com/news/news_detail.asp?news_id=4154

“Lazy ear” as cause of hearing deprivation

Scientists at have gained insight into a cause of hearing loss that stems from early childhood.

Just as “lazy eye” is caused by lapses in one eyes transmission of signals to the brain during critical development times, hearing loss may be caused by lapses in auditory transmission during childhood development.

Just as eye training can correct “lazy eye,” scientists are studying the ways in which ear training can be used to prevent future hearing loss.

Article at Science Daily

Despite what you may have heard, there’s no boom in deafness

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/08/AR2010030802347.html?hpid=sec-health

Excerpt from article:

[D]epending on volume and duration, the harm caused by very loud music can either be temporary, lasting up to 48 hours, or more permanent: “If you go to a hard-rock concert, and it’s really loud and your ears are ringing when you go home or you feel like you’ve got cotton in your ear, that’s not as worrisome as someone who listens to blaring music at top volume, day in, day out, who is more likely to have permanent damage to the receptor cells in the inner ear.”

Youtube turns on auto-captioning for all videos

Youtube has now turned on auto-captioning for all videos. This means that Google’s voice recognition software will automatically supply captions for every video uploaded to Youtube.

Of course voice recognition software often makes mistakes, especially when dealing with poor audio and when it is processing audio quickly.

If you have uploaded any videos to Youtube, you can easily correct the mistakes in the captions. This will enable many more web users to get maximum enjoyment from your video.

For more details, please see the following article at ReadWriteWeb.

Drugs with tinnitus as sound effect: an important resource!

Do you feel the effects of tinnitus? (Ringing in the ears?)

Are you currently taking any prescription medication?

Many people take prescription medications without knowing that the drug may cause tinnitus.

If you are trying to determine the cause of your tinnitus, or are worried that starting a new medication may exacerbate your tinnitus, check the following link to see if your prescriptions may cause tinnitus.

If your prescription appears on the list, you may want to consult your physician and do additional research as well.

Drugs with Tinnitus Side Effects

Ohio tax clinics for the hard-of-hearing

Do you live in Ohio?

If so, you may be able to participate in a free tax clinic for the hard-of-hearing.

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20100216/NEWS01/2160313

Availability of such clinics in other states is unknown as of yet.

Bluetooth Hearing Aids

Take a look at the following link for some new bluetooth products designed especially to facilitate communication as well as listening to music for hard-of-hearing individuals:

http://www.walyou.com/blog/2010/02/19/bluetooth-hearing-aid-design/

Deaf Olympics

With the Olympic Games currently underway in Vancouver, we thought this would be a good opportunity to post an informative article about the deaf olympics, which have been held separately from the mainstream games since 1924.

This article, about deaf bowling champion Chang Lee-hsiao, explains why it is that deaf athletes compete separately, as well as the challenges that are faced by professional athletes who are affected by hearing loss.

Contrary to popular belief, caffeine not linked to tinnitus

Tinnitus afflicts a significant amount of people in the USA, and sufferers have been frequently advised by doctors that if they reduce their consumption of caffeine, their symptoms will improve.

However, a study conducted at the Center for Hearing and Balance Studies in Bristol, UK, suggests that this may not be the case. 

In this placebo-controlled study, tinnitus sufferers who were also regular caffeine consumers showed no improvement when given placebos instead of caffeine. In fact, the study suggests that, among caffeine-addicted patients, caffeine withdrawal symptoms may make actually worsen their tinnitus.

Original article at Science Daily
More info about tinnitus at the American Tinnitus Association

Music Therapy may help deaf children with cochlear implants

Excerpt:

“Music comprises various elements that are also components of language and therefore as a non-verbal form of communication is suitable for communication with these children, when they are still unable to use language,” says Kerem. “Communicative interactions, especially those initiated by the toddlers, are critical in the development of normal communication, as they are prerequisites for developing and acquiring language.”

Kerem adds that following the implant procedure, toddlers are under a great deal of pressure from parents to begin talking, and they sometimes react to this pressure by becoming introverted. Music therapy can strengthen their nonverbal communication and reduce the pressure to initiate and respond to verbal activity.

“It is important that the parents and staff learn about the best way to expose these children to music, the use of music for communication and the importance of the therapist’s undirected approach,” she says. “Music therapy is gradually penetrating the field of rehabilitation, but there is still a lot of work to be done in improving awareness of this important area.”

For the full article, please click this link.