Hearing News Watch

NEW ROCHELLE, NY—“Over the next decade, most of the variant genes responsible for deafness will be identified, and such knowledge will lead to the development of practical treatments.” So predict four scientists from the University of Miami writing in the June 2013 issue of Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers (GTMB). In their paper, “Next-Generation Sequencing in Genetic Hearing Loss,” the

NEW YORK—Anil K. Lalwani, MD, lead author of a new study showing an association between hearing loss and obesity among adolescents, recommends that obese adolescents “receive regular hearing screening so they can be treated appropriately to avoid cognitive and behavioral issues.” The study, published June 17 in The Laryngoscope, found that obesity in adolescents is associated with sensorineural hearing loss

HIGHLAND PARK, IL—Illinois will get its first “looped” movie theater next month when the Renaissance Place Cinema in downtown Highland Park starts offering hearing loop technology to its patrons as part of ongoing renovations. This technology allows a movie’s audio to be amplified and delivered directly to hearing aid wearers’ ears through their hearing aid telecoil. This installation was initiated

DURHAM, NC—Med-El USA announced on June 14 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given its approval for wearers of three models of Med-El cochlear implants to undergo magnetic resonance imaging with 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI systems while leaving the internal magnet of their cochlear implant system in place. The federal agency’s decision, which is expected to take

People age 70 or over with hearing loss are substantially more likely to have been hospitalized in the past year and to have had more days of self-reported poor health than their contemporaries with normal hearing. So report Dane J. Genther, MD, and colleagues in a Research Letter to appear in this week’s issue of Journal of the American Medical

LONDON–Autifony Therapeutics, a British startup biotech company, has launched a Phase 1 trial of an experimental drug, AUT00063, that is designed to treat age-related hearing loss and tinnitus by targeting deficits in auditory processing in the brain that are believed to cause these problems. Charles Large, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Autifony, noted, “We are delighted by the progress

By David H. Kirkwood BETHESDA, MD—Back in the late 1990s, few would have believed that advocates for people with hearing loss would ever have a kind word for the wireless phone industry. That was the time that mobile phones were really starting to catch on in the U.S. The bad news, as users and manufacturers of hearing aids were discovering,

    MONTREAL—People are often said to see like an eagle or run like a deer. Maybe some day, those with acute hearing will be said to have ears like an Ormia ochracea. Probably not, but this parasitic fly about the size of a common housefly does have incredibly sensitive directional hearing. That’s why researchers have been inspired by this

   This post was published June 3 and then revised and re-published June 4. CENTENNIAL, CO—The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Aqua Accessory, Cochlear Americas, the company that makes the device, announced on May 31. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, Cochlear Americas’ Australian-based parent company, Cochlear, saw its stock plunge by a whopping 18% on June 3, following

BETHESDA, MD–Anna Gilmore Hall, who began her career as a registered nurse and has worked in association management for two decades, will become the next executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America, the HLAA board of trustees announced on May 22. She will officially assume her duties on July 8, succeeding Brenda Battat, who announced her plans to