Hearing Loss and Dementia

I have already written about the so far poorly understood link between hearing loss and dementia.
In the last year or so more articles have appeared in reliable health journals and newspapers about this. Unfortunately, we still don't know why and the connection between these two conditions is still there. The New York Times  published an article adapted from the book Shouting Won’t Help: Why I — and 50 Million Other Americans — Can’t Hear You,”  by Katherine Bouton.
A salient point in this article is the fact that it's not clear whether hearing aids can help stop this deterioration.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/straining-to-hear-and-fend-off-dementia/?ref=science?src=dayp

Hooray!! Hearing loss partially reversed!

A drug, LY41175, allows other cells in the inner ear to change into hair cells, which are essential, soundtransmitting cells in the inner ear. Normally, these cells are inhibited from making the switch. LY41175 releases that inhibition by interfering with the activity of a protein called Notch.

To read the original study go to :  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627312009531

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-hearing-loss-partially-reversed-in-noisedamaged-ears-of-mice-20130110,0,3991224.story

A very clear presentation on Hearing Loss

Hearing loss from San Diego Continuing Education

Which ear plugs are the best?

Here you'll find a few articles I found.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/shopping/2005/05/the_sound_of_silence.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_3

http://www.medicinenet.com/noise_induced_hearing_loss_and_its_prevention/page5.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1202116/Five-best--earplugs.html

http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/loud-music/what-earplugs-and-headphones-should-i-buy.aspx

http://answers.webmd.com/answers/1176154/how-effective-are-hearing-protection-devices

Some antibiotics are bad for your inner ear cells, but new research could change that

Article by the University of Michigan Health System
This story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan Health System. (June 11, 2012) 

The world needs new antibiotics to overcome the ever increasing resistance of disease-causing bacteria -- but it doesn't need the side effect that comes with some of the most powerful ones now available: hearing loss. Today, researchers report they have developed a new approach to designing antibiotics that kill even "superbugs" but spare the delicate sensory cells of the inner ear.

The Hearing Video

This video also demonstrates the proper use and maintenance of hearing protection and how to chose the right protection for you

Hearing loss demonstration

If you are a regular visitor of this blog, odds are you're a hearing loss sufferer. You can use this demonstration to make others understand what could happen to them if they don't protect their ears, this demonstration might help. Or if you are simply curious about what is it like to lose your hearing, this demonstration can help you too.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/demonstration.htm
or you can directly try it here :
Noise Induced hearing loss demonstration

Tool to estimate the performance of hearing protection

The United Kingdom's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a noise exposure tool to  help you work out your daily noise exposure, weekly noise exposures, and estimate the performance of hearing protection.


http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/calculator.htm

Interactive tool to virtually visit places and determine noise levels

A sound tour of the city with the New York Times

Great interactive tool to get an idea of average noise levels in different locations and the potential danger to one's ears.



Just in case you were curious about how the journalists obtained their noise measurements:

how-the-noise-was-measured

U.S. Noise Standards below those of other industrialized nations

By CARA BUCKLEY NYTimes
Noise levels recorded at nearly a dozen restaurants, gyms and bars in New York City reached heights that, if sustained over as little as two hours, would violate standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers’ hearing. But even if the regulations were heeded, many audiologists say, they would not protect hearing enough: federal noise protection standards lag behind much of the industrialized world’s.


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