Hearing Loss News and Research

Latest Hearing Loss News and Research

Discovery of a presbycusis related gene

Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, accounts for 30 percent of all hearing loss. So, why do some people lose their hearing as they get older but other people can still hear a pin drop?

3 Dec 2008

Worrying about your health? more government money will help you stay well

A national poll by the Australian medical research body, Research Australia, has found that many Australians are worried about developing a range of chronic diseases during their lifetime, particularly diseases such as arthritis.

2 Dec 2008

Time, surgery appear to reduce episodes of dizziness in patients with Ménière's

Episodes of dizziness tend to become less frequent over time in patients with Ménière's disease, a condition characterized by vertigo, hearing loss and ringing in the ears, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.

17 Nov 2008

Difluoromethylornithine may affect Barrett's esophagus

"While there was a suggestion that difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) may influence the extent of Barrett's dysplasia, this finding is very preliminary and further study of this agent in a larger number of patients is needed," said Frank A. Sinicrope, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

16 Nov 2008

U.S. fails hundreds of thousands of its youngest citizens on the day they are born

The United States is failing hundreds of thousands of its youngest citizens on the day they are born, according to the March of Dimes.

12 Nov 2008

Researchers test whether cocktail of vitamins and magnesium help prevent hearing loss

About 10 million people in the United States alone—from troops returning from war to students with music blasting through headphones—are suffering from impairing noise-induced hearing loss.

10 Nov 2008

Can vitamins and minerals prevent hearing loss?

About 10 million people in the United States alone--from troops returning from war to students with music blasting through headphones--are suffering from impairing noise-induced hearing loss.

10 Nov 2008

Smoking when pregnant doubles risk of cleft palate or lip in babies

Babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have a cleft palate or lip as those whose mothers didn't, according to research results released today.

6 Nov 2008

Birth defects more common if pregnant mothers smoke

New research has revealed that women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby with a birth defect - smoking during pregnancy apparently doubles the risk of the baby having a cleft lip or palate.

5 Nov 2008

Earlier jaundice treatment decreases brain injury in preterm infants

A study from a National Institutes of Health research network found that an early treatment to prevent severe newborn jaundice in extremely early preterm infants reduced the infants' rate of brain injury, a serious complication of severe jaundice.

30 Oct 2008

Discovery of new gene responsible for puberty disorders

A new gene responsible for some puberty disorders has been identified by Medical College of Georgia researchers.

27 Oct 2008

Gene find sheds light on motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Scientists have identified a gene in mice that plays a central role in the proper development of one of the nerve cells that goes bad in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and some other diseases that affect our motor neurons.

22 Oct 2008

Genes that control cell death may play role in age-related hearing loss

Several genes that play a role in how our body's cells normally auto-destruct may play a role in age-related hearing loss, according to research published online in the journal Apoptosis - a journal devoted to the topic of cell suicide, or programmed cell death.

19 Oct 2008

Pump up the volume - but risk permanent hearing damage

Scientists are warning that listening to music through earphones, at high volumes, can cause permanent hearing damage - they say noise-induced hearing damage above 80-85 decibels is a known phenomenon and such damage can be prevented to a large extent by reducing the noise exposure levels and duration.

13 Oct 2008

Research shows mobile phones raise children's risk of brain cancer by five times

New research from Sweden is certain to alarm many as it has found that young people today are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they are mobile phones users.

22 Sep 2008

Teenager almost deaf after waiting too long for ear drum surgery

In the latest bungle involving an Australian hospital, a teenage boy in Tasmania has reportedly waited so long for surgery to repair his perforated ear drum that he is almost deaf.

4 Sep 2008

New guidelines for dealing with earwax

Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists in the U.S. have come up with new guidelines for dealing with earwax.

2 Sep 2008

Earwax removal - new guidelines

The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) will issue the first comprehensive clinical guidelines to help health care practitioners identify patients with cerumen (commonly referred to as earwax) impaction. The guidelines emphasize evidence-based management of cerumen impaction by clinicians, and inform patients of the purpose of ear wax in hearing health.

1 Sep 2008

Middle ear infections in childhood linked to obesity later in life

Researchers are reporting new evidence of a possible link between a history of moderate to severe middle ear infections in childhood and a tendency to be overweight later in life. Their study suggests that prompt diagnosis and treatment of middle ear infections - one of the most common childhood conditions requiring medical attention - may help fight obesity in some people.

20 Aug 2008

Inherited form of hearing loss stems from gene mutation

Pat Phalin learned she had hearing loss at 30, when she volunteered to give hearing tests at her local school. The pupils heard sounds she could not hear.

31 Jul 2008