News Archive
 

World Audiology News - archive of stories for 2004

These stories were previously featured in the first page of the News Section in this website.

Please note: with passage of time some of these stories may no longer be available to view on their original websites of publication.

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year: 2004

December 2004

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss During Oral Anticoagulant Therapy
This study investigated the occurrence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) as an adverse effect in the treatment of patients using vitamin K antagonists (Phenprocoumon; Marcumar, Falithrom) as anticoagulants. Dr Andreas Müller and colleagues of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany studied the records of patients who were undergoing oral anticoagulant therapy and were then admitted to the ENT Department due to SSNHL (at University Hospital, Jena, Germany from 1998 to 2001). The pure-tone audiograms and the prothrombin time (PT) values before and after the event of the SSNHL were evaluated. This work has been reported recently in the Journal of Laryngology and Otology. - Medical World Communications, German Research, 30^th December 2004

Sensorineural Hearing Loss Associated with Psoriatic Arthritis
A case of sudden-onset sensorineural hearing loss in association with psoriatic arthritis (which has not been previously reported in literature) has been reported. So psoriatic arthritis can now be added to the list of other autoimmune diseases that can lead to sensorineural hearing loss. This work has been recently published in the Journal of Laryngology and Otology by Mr B.N. Kumar F.R.C.S (Consultant ENT Surgeon) and colleagues from the Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, UK. - Pharmacy Times, UK Research, 30^th December 2004

New Treatment for Sudden Hearing Loss
Staff at Loyola University Medical Center (Illinois, USA) have used a new treatment to help alleviate this problem. A tiny sponge called the microwick is placed through the ear drum and then steroid drops are put directly into the inner ear through the micowick. Dr Sam Marzo of Loyola University Medical Center said that the beauty of the treatment was that patients were able to apply the drops themselves. - CBS2 Chicago , USA, 29^th December 2004

Ear Infection? Antibiotics May Not Be the Best Choice
Concern about the rising rate of antibiotic use in acute otitis media (middle ear infection), leading to resistance to the antibiotics by the bacteria involved, has prompted the new guidelines in the USA encouraging lower use of antibiotics. Some alternative suggestions have been given in the guidelines and these are summarised here. - Health Day News, USA, 28^th December 2004

Researcher Receives Grant to Study Genetics of Hearing and Balance Disorders
Professor Elba Serrano (Associate Professor of Biology), of New Mexico State University (USA), has received a $492,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (USA) to study hearing and balance disorders. Her goal is to gain knowledge of the workings of inner ear sensory cells, that will help develop treatment and cures for both hearing and balance disorders. Prof. Serrano is cloning genes found in the inner ear and is especially interested in the genes for ion channels that are responsible for the electrical signals that are relayed from the ear to the brain. She also has constructed cDNA libraries from the inner ear and brain and she intends to use these to help identify genes that are important in normal development of the inner ear. She hopes to discover genetic mutations that can cause inner ear disorders. Her studies will help to test theories about how the sensory hair cells develop their unique sensory properties, and to find methods to stimulate the cells to regenerate. - Silver City Sun News, USA, 20^th December 2004

Staff Claim for Hearing Problems
A number of former car workers are making compensation claims for hearing problems which they say were caused by working in a noisy factory (Swindon Pressings Ltd) in Swindon, UK, which manufactures car body parts. The former employees say that their employers failed to provide them with ear protection. It became law in the UK for staff working in noisy areas to wear ear protection after a test case 1963. However it is claimed that ear protection was not introduced at the Swindon plant until the early 1990s. - BBC News, UK, 20^th December 2004

Diagnosing Inner Ear Hearing Loss Now Less Invasive with Genetic Testing A new study by Dr John H. Greinwald, Jr. and colleagues (of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, USA) shows that genetic testing offers a faster, simpler and cheaper way of diagnosing inner ear hearing loss in children. They have developed a gene-based diagnostic test, that uses a gene chip and microarray technology, to provide a rapid and accurate means for analysing nucleic acid samples. The gene chip can test for the genetic causes of existing hearing loss and for the potential of future hearing loss in infants. It is expected that the test will become widely available in 2005. At this point the gene chip targets 13 key genes (there are thought to be over 150 involved in hearing loss). In their work the researchers found that screening for the GJB2 gene, as the initial diagnostic test of choice was particularly effective. The study showed that using existing non-genetic diagnostic tests left 80 percent of patients with hearing loss undiagnosed after their initial assessment. As a results hearing loss in infants is often undetected for many months after birth. Dr Greinwald said, that early detection and intervention could alleviate most of the developmental and behavioural difficulties found in hearing impaired children, as the earlier intervention the greater the enhancement of speech and language skills. Dr Greinwald said, "Genetic testing can not only determine the cause of the hearing loss, but can help determine how a child’s hearing will progress as the child ages. What will the child’s hearing be like later in life? That’s why this research is so important. This is predictive information. It is not absolute, but it is very good." This work is published in the December 2004 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. - www.innovations-report.de, USA Research, 17th December 2004

New Zealand Children’s Hearing at Risk
In the last ten years, the average age for identifying children born with hearing loss in New Zealand has increased from two to nearly four years of age. Marianne Schumacher, executive manager for the National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) in New Zealand, said that one of the most serious problems resulting from late detection of hearing impairment is delayed language development during the critical period for language acquisition. Peter Thorne, Associate Professor of Audiology, at Auckland University said, “New Zealand quite possibly has the worst statistic in the developed world for the early detection of hearing loss." Professor Thorne is in charge of a project group asking for a a national newborn screening and intervention programme to be introduced in New Zealand. - Scoop, New Zealand, 16^th December 2004

Third Language Area in Brain Identified Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, University of London (UK), have identified a third language area in the brain involved with language processing. Before this, it was believed that just two areas of the brain (the Broca's and Wernicke's areas) handled language: one area produced language and another another area was responsible for comprehension. The researchers used diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (a more powerful version of standard MRI) to identify this third area, which they have called Geschwind's territory. The name honours American neurologist Norman Geschwind, who championed the idea of a third linguistic area decades ago. Dr Marco Catani the lead author for the study said that they were surprised to find that the two classical areas were densely connected to a third area, and that an important future line of study will be to examine the maturation of this area and its connections in the context of autism and dyslexia. The study appears in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology (as an early view article prior to print publication). - Heath Day News, UK Research, 13th December 2004 (see also the abstract / paper published on the Annals of Neurology website, 13.12.04)

Brain can be Trained to Process Sound in Alternate Way
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), USA, have found that the brains of rats can be trained to learn an alternate way of processing changes in the loudness of sound. The discovery, they say, has potential for the treatment of hearing loss, autism, and other sensory disabilities in humans. - EurekAlert, 10^th December 2004

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes After Preterm Birth
The major clinical outcomes that are important to premature babies and their families have been examined by William McGuire and Peter W Fowlie from Stirling Royal Infirmary, Stirling (UK). One of the areas highlighted included "hearing impairments". About 3% of infants born at less than 28 weeks gestation require hearing aids, though more infants have milder hearing impairment or high-frequency hearing loss. They reported that in these cases early use of hearing aids plus support from audiology services can improve language development in infants with sensorineural hearing loss. This work was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2004;329:1390-1393, 11 December) - this article was at BMJ Journals online (article no longer available), UK, 9^th December 2004

IVs for kids
Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit (USA) looked at whether the benefits of using an intravenous catheter (IV) outweigh the displeasure for children having minor ear surgery. They found that Children who had IVs spent longer in the operating room, longer in recovery, and longer in the hospital altogether. In addition children with IVs were in more pain, and parents were happier if their children didn't have IVs. - USNews.com, USA, 9^th December 2004

Auditory Processing Disorders to be Examined in Major Study
A major study is about to begin at The University of Auckland (New Zealand) to find ways to help children suffering from a common but difficult to diagnose cause of learning difficulties known as auditory processing disorders (APD). This condition occurs when when the ears hear but the brain does not process the signals well, and is a frequent cause of speech and language problems, reading difficulties and dyslexia in children. Dr Andrea Kelly (Audiology section of the School of Population Health) and her colleagues Drs Suzanne Purdy and Mridula Sharma (from Speech Science in the Department of Psychology) are undertaking a study examining APD in order to improve diagnosis of the disorder and identify ways to help children overcome its effects. - Scoop, New Zealand, 8^th December 2004 (also given on the University of Auckland News, 8.12.04)

Nightclub Workers Risk Hearing Loss
Workers at noisy clubs and pubs are at risk of permanent hearing loss, according to a report by the TUC. Research showed that in some cases that the music was found to be so loud, that it compared to working next to an aeroplane taking off. Currently 170,000 people suffer from deafness or other ear conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work, in the UK. The TUC (Trade Union Council) says that around nd it is calling for more protection for bar and club staff. Mark Hoda, spokesman for the charity group RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf), which helped with the research, said that many employers in bars and clubs are in breach of the law. - BBC News, UK, 8^th December 2004

November 2004

Paget's Disease and Cochlear Implantation
Paget's disease of bone is a common disorder characterised by excessive bone resorption followed by excessive bone formation. If the skull is affected this may result in hearing loss and eventually develop into profound deafness. Dr Andrea Bacciu and colleagues (Department of Otolaryngology, University of Parma, Italy) have the first reported case of a successful cochlear implantation in a patient with this disease. The researchers reported the case of a male patient, aged 77, with a 20-year history of progressive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and radiographically confirmed Paget's disease of the skull who was successfully implanted. This work was published in The Journal of Laryngology and Otology (October 2004;118(10):810-3) - Medical World Communications, Italian Research, 27^th November 2004

What Colour is that Sound?
A blending of the senses occurs in a rare condition called "synesthesia." In this condition, a stimulus, such as sound, creates a reaction in another sense, as well as the expected sense. So this can result in people who are able to taste or see sound as well as hear it. Synesthesia is thought to occur in just 1 per cent of all adults. Prof. Daphne Maurer (Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada) has found that at a very young age everyone is synesthetic. She discussed evidence that all infants are synesthetic at the annual meeting of the American Synesthesia Association on 6th November 2004. - McMaster University New Release, Canada, 23^rd November 2004

New Tools to Help Patients Reclaim Damaged Senses A new device called the Brain Port has been used to regain normal vestibular function. It involves placing a thick strip of tape, the size of a stamp, containing 144 microelectrodes on to the tongue for a short time each day. The strip is wired to a carpenter's level type device on a hard hat on the head, which determines the patients coordination and then sends pulses to the tongue. This technique uses a technology that allows one set of sensory information to substitute for another in the brain. (This method can also help to restore other senses such as sight and touch be re-routing them to other parts of the body such as the tongue, skin or ears). The technology for swapping sensory information is largely the effort of Dr Paul Bach-y-Rita, a specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. Work which he started on 30 years ago. Next month, the first fully portable device will be tested in Dr Bach-y-Rita's lab. The Brain Port is nearing commercialisation. Two years ago, the University of Wisconsin (USA) patented the concept and licensed it to Wicab Inc., a company formed by Dr. Bach-y-Rita. There are only a handful of clinicians around the world who have used the BrainPort on an experimental basis. Dr F. Owen Black, an expert on vestibular disorders at the Legacy Clinical Research and Technology Center in Portland, Oregon (USA) says that he has never seen any other device do what this one does and that their patients are begging them to continue to use the device.- Herald Journal, USA, 23rd November 2004 (see also the New York Times, opens in new window, this website gives a pop-up ad, and after a few views requires registration)

Deaf People's Group Wins Charity Award
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf has just been named most innovative charity by the top voluntary organisations, in a poll promoting the growing role of not-for profit organisations in Britain. - RNID News, UK, 23^rd November 2004 (this news was also reported in the Financial Times, UK)

Stem Cells Could Improve hearing
Various news stories from a one day conference organised by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) held in London (UK) have been discussed here including: 1. Work by Dr Marcelo Rivolta, from Sheffield University. He is using stem cells from embryos and trying to learn how to convert them into cells for the human ear. Dr Rivolta said that his research had shown that stem cells from sensory nerves could be regrown in a damaged part of the ear which, potentially, could restore a person's hearing for certain types of hearing loss such as; those people who have lost their hearing as a result of degeneration of the cochlear, those who've lost hair cells because of loud noise or drug treatments, and people with certain genetic conditions. 2. The first trials of a drug, codenamed SPI 1005, which treats hearing loss are currently being conducted using eighty soldiers (from the USA army) involved in live weapons training with handheld rifles. The product has been developed by Sound Pharmaceuticals, who hope that it will be on the market in about three years. - BBC, UK, 22^nd November 2004

Mild Hearing Loss Affects Kids' School Performance
At the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Philadelphia, Dr. Anne Marie Tharpe (Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA) presented the results of two studies that measured childrens' hearing and compared it to their performance at school. The studies included approximately 2000 students, not all of whom had hearing disorders. It was found that children with hearing problems, even minimal, were significantly more likely to have academic problems. Children with impairments such as a loss of hearing in one ear, or an inability to hear sounds of certain pitches, were found to be 10 times more likely to have scholastic difficulties than normal-hearing children. - Reuters UK / Reuters Health (article no longer available), USA Research, 18^th November 2004

Depression in Older Adults With Hearing Loss
Tina Mullins, the who is the American Psychological Association's Director of Audiology Adult Practice, discusses issues related to depression in older adults with hearing loss. Some information of what steps Audiologists can take if they suspect a patient has such problems has been given here. - The ASHA Leader, USA, 16^th November 2004

Steelband Musicians May Suffer Hearing Loss
A new report by researchers at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad, showed that musicians with long term exposure (of over 20 years) to the Steel-Pan instrument had a greater hearing loss, than others who were not exposed. Dr. Solaiman Juman, the lead author said this showed that steel-pan players required hearing protection, or they would be at risk of getting a noise-induced hearing loss, with time. This is of particular concern as many steel pan musicians are reluctant to use ear protectors, as this may hinder them from noticing slight differences in musical tones, and many are starting to play the instrument at an increasingly younger age (as early as 10 years old). This study has been reported in the journal "Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery" - Reuters Health (article no longer available), West Indies Research, 8^th November 2004

Pitt Research Cave Sheds Light on Dizziness University of Pittsburgh researchers (USA) have collaborated with computer experts from the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) to develop the Balance Near Automatic Virtual Environment (BNAVE), nicknamed "the cave". This involves a virtual reality display room large enough for people to immerse themselves in a computer-generated visual environment such as large geometric patterns, a grocery shop or the top of a skyscraper with appropriate lighting / brightness etc. A helmet equipped with miniature video cameras tracks their eye movements and the floor is a platform capable of measuring the forces under a patients feet as they respond to the environment. Dr. Mark Redfern, the centre's co-director and a Professor of Bioengineering and Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh said that virtual reality provides a safe environment, as well as quantifiable, instant changes to be made to tailor the therapy. The project has cost nearly $200,000 and was paid for with grants from the Eye and Ear Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (USA). It is hoped that within the next year the BNAVE will be put into use as a rehabilitation tool for patients with balance disorders. - Pittsburgh Tribune Review, USA, 8th November 2004

October 2004

Scientists Closing In On Nerve Proteins’ Contributions to Memory and Hearing Loss
Jianxin Bao (research assistant professor of otolaryngology) and other researchers, at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, have shown that two key nervous system proteins interact in a manner that helps regulate the transmission of signals in the nervous system. These are neuregulin-1 (Nrg-1), a protein linked to schizophrenia, and postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease. (Publication in Nature Neuroscience, Nov 2004). Jianxin Bao suspects age-related decreases in Nrg-1 levels may be linked to hearing loss and memory loss, and has begun research to investigate the effects on hearing. - Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine News Release, USA, 28^th October 2004

Professor Graeme Clark - Winner of the Prime Minister's Science Prize (Australia)
Cochlear was named Australia's top innovator for the third year running. The transcript of a radio interview with Professor Graeme Clark is given here. The Prime Minister's Prize for Science honoured Professor Graeme Clark for the discoveries that led to the bionic ear. The latest discoveries of Professor Clark and his colleagues at the Bionic Ear Institute involves making nerve cells in the inner ear re-sprout. Professor Clark said, "the discoveries will not only allow us to have more nerves to stimulate to give us better quality sound, but we also are aiming to preserve the nerves from dying back which happens in deafness and, there's another exciting challenge facing bionic ears and that is being able to operate on ears that have residual hearing, so we're also hoping that we can preserve hearing and actually operate on them at the same time." Professor Clark said that it was a major discovery in neuroscience and they were hoping to apply it to the ear, and also follow on with helping people with spinal cord injury. - Radio Australia - ABC, 24^th October 2004

Success Fills Bionic Man with Humility
Prof. Graeme Clarke was speaking at the Melbourne leg of Research Australia's Thank You Day campaign to highlight the work of medical researchers, and he said it still gave him a thrill to be able to bring sound to deaf people. Prof. Clarke said, "There's a new era in nanotechnology, biomaterials, intelligent polymers, and what we hope to do here in Melbourne is set up a centre where we combine new technology with biology for the benefit of human beings," he said. - Herald Sun (article no longer available), Australia, 23^rd October 2004

MRI Should Be the Preferred Test for Evaluating Sensorineural Hearing Loss
A study, published in the October edition of Laryngoscope suggests that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) be the preferred test for evaluating asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss rather than auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. "These findings are important because, even though MRI is more expensive than ABR, we recommend its use to achieve earlier tumour detection and better treatment results," said Dr Roberto A. Cueva, the study's main author. - Business Wire (article no longer available), USA, 21^st October 2004

Simple Exercises Help Dispel Chronic Dizziness
A recent study by the University of Southampton (UK) showed that performing a series of head movements for a few minutes every day can improve symptoms of chronic dizziness for many patients. By six months the researchers found that a greater number of patients who had been prescribed the exercises showed significant clinical improvement in dizziness, compared to those who did not perform the exercises. - Healthypages.co.uk / Reuters UK, 18^th October 2004

Mobile phone 'ear tumours risk'
A recent study by Sweden's Karolinska Institute found the risk of acoustic neuroma rose by 3.9 times on the side of the head the phone is used. The study involved 750 subjects. Prof. Anders Ahlbom, of the Karolinska Institute said he was Surprised by his teams findings. - BBC, UK, (Swedish Research), 14^th October 2004, (see also Mobile Phones Again Linked to Cancer Risk, Microwave News 13.10.04, and further discussions of this story in the 'Central Processing' section of our Audiology Discussions forum)

Scientists find Molecular Key to Hearing
Researchers believe they have discovered the final link in the physiological process that enables us to hear. That last connection is a molecule (TRPA1 molecules) in the inner ear that converts sound waves into nerve impulses used by the brain, a process known as transduction. This study was lead by Professor David P. Corey, Harvard Medical School. This discovery is reported in the 13th October issue of Nature.- KPHO, USA - 13^th October 2004 (see also Protein Key to Human Hearing Discovered, npr)

Movies Too Loud For Kids?
Children's movies are often loud enough to potentially cause hearing loss in children, a study shows. "Although one movie viewing was not enough to cause permanent hearing loss alone ... repetitive temporary threshold shifts may ultimately cause permanent hearing deficits," says study researcher William Thane Hancock, University of Hawaii. These results were presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2004 National Conference & Exhibition. - CBS News, 12^th October 2004 (they can often be too loud for adults as well, there are further discussios about this in the 'Noise' section of the Audiology Discussions forum - editorial)

'Astronaut Therapy' Aids Hospital Patients' Balance Problems Training given to fighter pilots and astronauts has been adapted to treat patients with balance problems. The sessions combine rotating disk, spinning chair and video-based exercises that create the illusion of movement. Study leader Professor Adolfo Bronstein, head of the department of neuro-otology at Charing Cross Hospital (London, UK) said: “Input from your muscles and joints, your inner ear and your eyes make up the triad of sensory information your body needs to stay balanced. In patients with inner ear damage, we thought that by strengthening the other inputs this would lead to a reduction in dizziness. We found that the frequency and intensity of dizzy spells was reduced, along with an improvement in balance and co-ordination in all patients, more so in the half that received the visual simulations. These exercises, which are used to train pilots to avoid motion sickness, are simple to set up so we are confident that they will soon become part of the standard treatment programme for chronic dizziness.” This work was reported today in the Journal of Neurology. - scotsman.com, UK, 7th October 2004. (see also 'Flight simulators treat vertigo', BBC, UK, 10.10.04)

Vertigo Sufferers... Just How Easily Curable their Conditions are
A five year study by the Baylor College of Medicine (Texas, Houston, USA) on the most common form of vertigo has shown that certain motions, not medications, can eliminate the vestibular problem’s disorienting effects. Dr. Helen Cohen, associate director of the 'Center for Balance Disorders' at BCM, found that low-impact exercises successfully resolve problems caused by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, referred to as BPPV. “Unlike other disorders that are caused by damage to the nerve ... this is a mechanical problem,” said Cohen. “So the way to fix it is with a mechanical fix.” - News-Medical.Net, USA Research, 5^th October 2004

Beyond Call of Duty to Care for Deaf Patients
The Audiology team at Royal Berkshire Hospital who brought down waiting lists for deaf people from two years to “almost nothing” were recently awarded for their efforts. Chairman of Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust Colin Maclean revealed that the hospital’s audiology team had achieved the improved service without being driven by Government performance targets. He said: “They did the whole thing off their own bat. “They did it by working long hours, working into the evenings and coming in at weekends. “As a result, in a review carried out recently, they were judged to be one of the top five audiology departments in the country.” - Reading Evening Post , UK, 5^th October 2004

Background noises.... may actually scramble brain activity
Research by the University of Florida showed that background noise didn’t simply cover up sounds, it interfered with the brain’s ability to process or interpret information about a sound, even though the sound was heard. Essentially, the brain couldn’t understand what the ear told it. “Some people have a tremendously difficult time understanding speech in a noisy environment..” said Purvis Bedenbaugh, an assistant professor of neuroscience with the University of Florida College of Medicine (& McKnight Brain Institute, UF). “This research is a first step toward looking at why that would be.” This work is detailed in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is thought that the phenomenon may play a role in auditory processing disorder, a problem first noticed in children in the 1970s. The lack of coordination between the ear and brain that characterizes the disorder is expected to be widespread, although it is difficult to diagnose, according to the American Academy of Audiology. - News-Medical.net, US, 5^th October 2004, (also University of Florida News, 30.9.04)

September 2004

Ear Syringing - the pros and cons
Syringing or irrigating the ear to facilitate the removal of wax (cerumen) and foreign bodies which are not hydroscopic (ie will not absorb water and expand) from the external auditory canal is performed for hearing loss and sensation of ear blockage. Experts disagree on the ability of ear syringing to improve hearing, and some are concerned that the procedure can have adverse effects such as tympanic membrane damage or promotion of infection. - Journal of Community Nursing, UK, 29^th September 2004

Interview: Australia's Cochlear To Ramp Up Output
Cochlear Chief Executive Chris Roberts said some surgeons have already switched to its implants after the Advanced Bionics recall was issued on Friday. "Some patients will reschedule and some patients will swap," he said. "We'll increase production to ensure we can supply where needed," Roberts added. - Yahoo Asia News (article no longer available), Australia, 27^th September 2004. (See also Recall Buoys Cochlear, Herald Sun, Australia, 28.9.04)

Deaf Workers Sue Car Firms
Two of the Midlands biggest car manufacturers are facing a potential multi-million pound payout to former employees with hearing difficulties. The MG Rover plant in Longbridge and the Land Rover factory in Solihull are being hit with compensation claims from workers who say they have suffered deafness as a result of bad working practices in the 1960s and 1970s. The elderly ex-employees are suffering from partial deafness they say was caused by not wearing ear protectors while working with heavy machinery. - icbirmingham, UK, 26^th September 2004

Cochlear un-Implanted Units are Recalled
The Advanced Bionics Corp. of Sylmar, California, USA, is conducting a voluntary recall of its un-implanted CLARION and HiResolution cochlear implants. Advanced Bionics determined moisture may cause device failure and symptoms include, but are not limited to: intermittent functioning, sudden sensation of discomfort or pain, sudden loud noise or popping sound, complete loss of sound, and unwillingness of a child to wear his or her external headpiece. See also the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) press release. - The Washington Times (article no longer available), USA, 25^th September 2004 (there is a further discussion of this story in the 'Cochlear Implants' section of the forum).

Study Suggests Vitamin E Can Restore Hearing
Recent research, by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, suggests Vitamin E can help restore hearing in people who become deaf suddenly for no known reason (see news story below dated 17.09.04). About 123,000 people in the UK experience sudden so-called "sensorineural" hearing loss. Often this can be a viral or bacterial infection or trauma. However, in about 10-15% of cases there is no obvious cause and this is called idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss. Munna Vio, from the RNID, which represents deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, said that it was a very encouraging study and that the RNID was funding similar research into antioxidants, including vitamin E, as a way of treating hearing loss. - BBC News (UK), comments on Israeli Research, 25^th September 2004

Medication Could Reverse Hearing Loss
Lots of things "go" as we age and one of them is our hearing. But new research shows the problem may not be just in your ears, and that may help doctors find a way not only to prevent hearing loss -- but potentially reverse it. “The brain problems are fundamentally in terms of feedback system. It's the controlled systems that are coming back to the ear," said Robert Frisina, Ph.D. with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, USA. There is also an associated online video, which you can view, with this news story entitled" Research May Reverse Hearing Loss". - CBS 2-Chicago , USA, 24^th September 2004

The Balance Factor: Can You Handle Zero G?
NASA flight surgeons and researchers studying weightlessness, examine motion sickness from weightlessness. Inside the human inner ear are three semicircular canals, part of the vestibular system, that serve as accelerometers using tiny hairs and fluid to determine the body's position in space. That works fine on the Earth's surface, where the body expects, and rightly so, the steady pull of gravity. But during a parabolic flight or the initial days of weightlessness in space, the body's internal balance system is cast into confusion. - Space.com (this website gives pop-up ads), 21^st September 2004

Non-Verbal Development of Children With Deafness
A study was carried out to explore clinically the role of hearing in development of sensorimotor integration and non-verbal cognition. It was found that auditory impairment does not cause a pathological delay or distortion in non-verbal development but it does produce subtle differences in certain motor and neuropsychological functions. This observation is an interesting demonstration of the extent of the role of hearing in the building of the brain. Language impairment is not the only consequence of deafness on neuropsychological development. (Published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 21st September 2004) - Mentalhelp.net (article no longer available - please see further details link instead), 21^st September 2004, further details

MRI Identifies Causes of Sudden Deafness
Past research has revealed that in an MRI examination of 495 sudden deafness cases, 22 showed evidence of intra-axial lesions. This gave a research team a central etiologic basis for the deafness; the possibility of lesions in the audiovestibular pathway has been considered by other researchers to be one of the principal causes of sudden hearing loss. A new study by researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo (Paulista Medical School), Brazil reports on the abnormalities found after an MRI examination of patients with sudden deafness. Presentation of this work was given at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, 19-22 Sept 2004, New York - Medical News Today , Brazilian Research, 19^th September 2004

Botox Injections May Ease the Irritation of Tinnitus
A preliminary study indicates that Botox injections may ease the irritation of tinnitus, otherwise know as ringing in the ears, for some patients. Researchers say more study is needed, but initial results are promising. - News-Medical, USA, 18^th September 2004

Study Hints at Antioxidants being able to Prevent and Restore Hearing Loss
In a preliminary study, researchers found that vitamin E may be effective in restoring sudden onset hearing loss of unknown origin (idiopathic sudden hearing loss). These findings suggest that further research may reveal the role of antioxidants in the prevention and restoration of hearing loss. See also the press release on nlm.nih.gov. This study is the work of researchers from Rambam Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation annual meeting and OTO EXPO on 19 -22 Sept. - News-Medical, Israeli Research, 17^th September 2004

High-Tech Hearing Bypasses Ears
Bone-conduction technology has long been used in hearing aids and other products for the hearing impaired, as well as in military headsets. Recently, several commercial companies have embraced it for products aimed at the general public.- Wired News, 16^th September 2004

Kids Give Language its Shape
An extensive study of deaf Nicaraguan children found that they refined sign language. "These children are actually creating language. This was a rare opportunity to discover a new language as it's emerging," said study author Ann Senghas, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City. The study followed several generations of deaf Nicaraguan children as they created their own sign language and then continuously tinkered it with each new group of signers. This work appears in the 17 September issue of Science.- HealthDay News, USA Research, 16^th September 2004

Brain has Center for Detecting Sound Motion
While it was known that the visual system has a specialized region for perceiving motion, it wasn't known whether the auditory system has such a region.... Published in Neuron, 16 September, Volume 43, Number 6, 2004, pages 765–777 - EurekAlert, USA, 15^th September 2004

Left And Right Ears Not Created Equal ...
Research on newborns by University Of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Arizona (UA) has shown that the way that right and left ears process sound differs from one another. Yvonne Sininger's findings suggest that the difference is inherent in the ear itself. "We always assumed that our left and right ears worked exactly the same way," she said. "As a result, we tended to think it didn't matter which ear was impaired in a person. Now we see that it may have profound implications for the individual's speech and language development." This work published in the 10^th September edition of Science, could hold profound implications for rehabilitation of persons with hearing loss in one or both ears, and help doctors enhance speech and language development in hearing-impaired newborns. - UCLA News, USA, 9^th September 2004 (also in Science Daily Press Release for 10th September 2004)

Bionic ear to hear sweet music
A new-generation bionic ear that turns noise into music is one step closer after Australian researchers have shown they can resprout delicate nerve fibres lost in deafness. The research, led by Professor Graeme Clark of Melbourne's Bionic Ear Institute, has been submitted for publication. Clark was last night awarded the A$300,000 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for his pioneering research on the bionic ear, or cochlear implant. When hair cells are lost, a person has difficulty in picking up sound vibrations, the fundamental cause of sensory hearing loss. Clark said the bionic ear was designed to bypass the function of hair cells by using electrodes to directly stimulate the nerves to communicate with the brain. - ABC Science Online, Australia, 8^th September 2004

Pneumococcal Vaccine Reduces Ear Infections... New Study Shows
A new study has found that the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which has been routinely given to young children, since 2000 in America, reduces the incidence of middle ear infection as well as pneumonia. The study appears in the September issue of the journal "Pediatrics." Dr. Kathy Poehling (assistant professor of Pediatrics) and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre studied data from Tennessee and New York medical records. - Eurekalert, USA research, 7^th September 2004

Trust Denies Long Hearing Aid Wait
The British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists said patients at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend waited four years to be seen. But Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust in Wales denies and claims that its longest wait is 99 weeks.- BBC News, Wales, UK, 6^th September 2004

Motorcycle Noise Poses Hearing Risk
University of Florida researchers tested many makes of motorcycles and found that, when throttled up, they produced noise levels above 100 decibels with the loudest measuring 110 decibels. Permanent hearing loss can occur with prolonged exposure to noise levels of 85 decibels or higher. - Health Scout (Health Day News), USA , 6^th September 2004

Earplug breakthrough promises relief for maintainers
Digital active noise reduction earplugs can be used to help naval aviation deck and flight line crew, who experience the roar jet aircraft day after day during multiple take-offs and landings. - The Tester, dcmilitary.com, USA, 2^nd September 2004

Do Deaf Children Have a Right to the Sound of Silence?
Scientists are ever closer to "curing" deafness, through developments in cochlear implant surgery, stem cell therapy and gene therapy, reported Pat Hagan in the New Scientist (August 28). The last thing these scientists anticipated was that their research would be met with deep resentment by large sections of the deaf community. - The Guardian, 1^st September 2004

August 2004

Music Providing Some Relief For Tinnitus
Audiologist Rich Tyler is studying whether music can help tinnitus. One theory is that the condition is caused by abnormal brain activity. Tyler says music may impact that. "There is a chance that, through extended period of listening strategies, that the pattern that is responsible for the tinnitus in the brain might actually be broken up." The study is being conducted only at the University of Iowa. - wave3.com, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 31^st August 2004

First AuD UK Students Have Graduated
The first cohort of the United Kingdom Doctor of Audiology (AuD) programme have completed their degrees and have graduated this August in sunny Florida. The AuD programme is run by Nova Southeastern University (Florida, USA), live in London, with teaching carried out by World renowned experts in the field. Further details. - aud.org.uk, 29^th August 2004

Siemens Cell Phone Could Cause Hearing Damage
Siemens issued a warning that some of its mobile phones may have a software problem that could cause them to emit a loud noise, possibly causing hearing loss for the phone user. When that happens, the phone may begin playing a very loud "shutdown melody" and if a user is still holding the phone to his or her ear, it may present some risk to the person's hearing. - Canadian Press, www.ctv.ca, Canada, 27^th August 2004

Rosemary McCall
For the audiologist Rosemary McCall, who died aged 85 on 3^rd August, the most important thing to offer deafened people was empathy, support and the confidence to begin communicating again. Postwar she began her career in audiology and immediately recognised the lack of support for ex-service personnel, and for elderly deaf people. After working with a deafened lady from Ireland, she had an idea to start social rehabilitation with a holistic approach, taking into account the wider health and circumstances of the individual, and involving the family. So an organisation called Link was started in her living room. In 1998, she was awarded the OBE for her services to deafened people. - The Guardian Newspaper (this website sometimes gives a pop-up), UK, 21^st August 2004

Debate Rages Over Deafness Test
The advent of a screening test for connexin 26-related congenital deafness is posing wrenching questions including: what should parents do with the foreknowledge that their child is or may be deaf? - forward.com (article no longer available), NY, USA, 18^th August 2004

$7 Million Grant to Fund Studies: Including Vestibular Function of Inner Ear
Penn State College of Medicine researchers recently were awarded a five-year, $7 million grant to conduct a series of studies on human circulation. The grant will fund three projects. One of the major projects, led by Chester A. Ray, Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Physiology in the Penn State College of Medicine, and will study how the nervous system’s control of blood vessel function reacts to messages from the vestibular system in the inner ear. - Penn State Live, USA, 18^th August 2004

Local, Ear Infection: Otitis Media
Y'Shua Yisrael, Assistant Professor of Audiology at South Carolina State University, states that ear infections are the most common cause of hearing loss in children. - The Times & Democrat (article no longer available), South Carolina, USA, 9^thAugust 2004

Pitch Is Key in Finding Source of Sounds
A new British study sheds light on how you know where sounds are coming from, which could help scientists understand the complex interaction between the brain and the environment. The study author David McAlpine, reader in auditory neuroscience, University College London, said that research could possibly lead to improvements in devices like hearing aids and cochlear implants. - Health Daily News, UK Research, 4^th August 2004

July 2004

Tinnitus Patients Need Not Suffer in Silence
Oregon Health & Science University researchers publish new findings, recommendations to help clinicians identify, treat and help patients manage tinnitus. - OHSU news, USA Research, 30^th July 2004

Deafening Music in Vehicles Boils Down to One Thing: Lack of Manners
“...if you are exposed to sounds you feel are noxious, it may increase your blood pressure, increase stress levels and cause other physiological changes,” said Dr. Richard Gans, president of the American Academy of Audiology. - The Detroit News , USA, 27^th July 2004

Steroids for Dizziness?
Researchers from Germany conducted a study to see if a steroid drug, antiviral agent, or a combination of the two could improve the outcome of patients with vestibular neuritis. Researchers concluded the steroid (methylprednisolone) alone significantly improved the extent of recovery of patients with vestibular neuritis. - Ivanhoe Newswire (this website may give a pop-up), German Research, 23^rd July 2004

New Society for UK Audiology Professionals Established
The British Academy of Audiology has been established as a new and powerful voice for audiology in the UK. It has been formed by the merger of the British Association of Audiological Scientists (BAAS), the British Association of Audiologists (BAAT), and the British Association of Hearing Therapists (BSHT). - aud.org.uk, 21^st July 2004

Drug Prevents Chemotherapy Induced Hearing Loss
A Oregon Health & Science University study reports that a drug, used to treat people with Tylenol poisoning, prevents hearing loss caused by a common chemotherapy drug.- OHSU news, USA Research, 19^th July 2004

Hearing Fears for Pacific Island Children
Almost one in six Pacific Island children fail a school-entry hearing test - double the failure rate of European children ... there may be genetic implications. - Stuff.co.nz (article no longer available), New Zealand, 17^th July 2004

London Tube Noise Could Damage Hearing
Prof. Deepak Prasher (UCL) advises Tube passengers to wear ear protection after a BBC investigation finds noise levels louder than a pneumatic drill. - BBC News, London, UK, 15^th July 2004

Tone Task Proves Blind Hear Better
Research carried out shows early vision loss leads to keener hearing. "The discovery reveals a lot about the brain's capacity to reorganize itself early in life", says study leader Pascal Belin of the University of Montreal, Canada. A related article, Early Blindness Sharpens Sense of Sound discussing professionals views on this article is also available to view on Medicine Net. - this article was originally at Nature News Online (no longer freely available, now requires subscription), Canadian Research, 14^th July 2004

Childrens Hearing Problems Picked up too Late in New Zealand
New Zealand is deaf to the hearing problems of young children, health professionals say. - this article was at Stuff.co.nz (article no longer available), New Zealand, 12^th July 2004

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