Hearing News Watch

LONDON—Hearing scientists and hearing healthcare providers have known for decades that exposure to loud noise, especially over an extended period, often causes severe and irreversible hearing loss. However, a report by an international team of researchers reveals that the damage done by excessive noise extends far beyond hearing loss and related auditory problems, such as tinnitus. In an article, “Auditory

WASHINGTON, DC—Few seasoned flyers pay much attention to the in-flight safety video or demonstration that is presented at the start of every commercial flight. However, that doesn’t excuse airlines from presenting them—and in a way that is accessible to passengers who can’t hear. That’s why in September the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined Virgin America $150,000 for failing to

ORLANDO, FL—A new smart phone-enabled otoscope may give parents a DIY way to diagnose ear infections in their child at home rather than having to take the youngster to the pediatrician’s office. That is the potential of the CellScope Oto, developed by CellScope, Inc., a San Francisco-based start-up. On Monday (October 28), an abstract was presented at the American Academy

WACO, TX—Like many mammals, whales have wax in their ears. And, given how large they are—blue whales can grow to nearly 100 feet in length and weigh close to 200 tons—it’s not surprising that they pack a lot of earwax. Whether it interferes with their hearing is hard to say; it doesn’t seem that any marine audiologists have tested whales

• When you tell people what you do for a living, do they often say, “What?”–and expect you to laugh? • When you’re standing behind an elderly person in the supermarket checkout line, do you have to resist a powerful urge to push his earmold properly into his ear? • Do you find battery stickers on the bottom of your shoes and

ROCKVILLE, MD—Next to being exposed to excessive noise, one of the most common causes of irreversible hearing loss in people of all ages is exposure to chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Cisplatin and the aminoglycoside antibiotics, two classes of drugs commonly used with cancer patients, are both toxic to mechanosensory hair cells, the receptor cells of the inner ear.

By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC–Twenty years ago, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann was under enemy fire in Mogadishu, Somalia, during a battle that inspired the 2001 movie Blackhawk Down. Eversmann, who had just been given his first command, led his paratrooper unit, Ranger Chalk Four, to the assistance of a U.S. helicopter crew. Their chopper, Black Hawk Super-Six

OWINGS MILLS, MD—Craig W. Johnson, a pioneering audiologist who founded and ran the first private audiology practice in Maryland and then became a leading advocate for his profession, died on October 9. A native of Baltimore, Johnson was one of the few audiologists ever to simultaneously hold leadership positions with two major professional audiology organizations. He served on the board

  By David H. Kirkwood BLACKSBURG, VA—The answer to that question is decidedly yes, very far behind. To be sure, behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids, which were the dominant style in the U.S. in the 1960s and then dwindled to less than 20% of the market in the early 1990s, did launch a dramatic comeback over the past decade and now

PORTLAND, OR—When people are fitted with hearing aids, they often face difficulty in obtaining the maximum benefit from them. That’s why the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which fits more than half a million hearing aids a year on U.S. military veterans, is sponsoring a 2-year pilot study to explore if certain tools and techniques can help patients make the