Hearing News Watch

ROCKVILLE, MD–With an eye to the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) issued an advisory this week to Americans everywhere to protect their hearing from exposure to Independence Day’s traditional fireworks displays. ASHA warned that the noise from exploding fireworks can reach 155 dB– louder than a military jet taking off. As a result, spectators anywhere close

COPENHAGEN—Living close to a busy city street or highway has various drawbacks. The constant traffic noise is annoying and may also pose a threat to one’s hearing. But recently, a group of European scientists, led by Mette Sørensen of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, has reported that long-term exposure to the noise of road traffic is associated with

MARYVILLE, TN—Only rarely are hearing aids the subject of political campaigns. However, Tennessee’s recently enacted policy of requiring health insurance companies to cover hearing aids for children has led to charges and countercharges from the two candidates for the Republican nomination for state senator in Tennessee’s 2nd District. Scott Hughes, who is challenging the incumbent, Sen. Doug Overbey, asserted on

OWOSSO, MI–The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Indian Trails, Inc., have teamed up to install induction loops, also known as hearing loops, on a fleet of 17 motor coaches that operate 34 scheduled routes throughout Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. “I’m quite sure this is the first American bus line with hearing loops,” said David G. Myers, PhD, a

WASHINGTON, DC—The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a national tele-audiology pilot program that it hopes will lay the groundwork for a permanent program to improve veterans’ access to audiologic care. In the pilot program, a computer network is used to transmit and regulate sound waves from an audiologist in one location to an office in a remote location.

NÆRUM, DENMARK–When the Ida Institute was established here in 2008, its mission was “to foster a better understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss.” While that was a plenty ambitious goal, now the institute’s work is beginning to have an even wider impact than originally envisioned. The World Health Organization (WHO) has just published an educational textbook, Engage

COPENHAGEN—Three scientists from Widex A/S, a prominent Danish-based hearing aid manufacturer, were announced yesterday (June 14) as winners of the sixth annual European Inventor Awards. Presented by the European Patent Office, these prestigious honors recognize outstanding inventors for their contributions to social, economic, and technological progress. Jan Tøpholm, Søren Westermann, and Svend Vitting Andersen were honored in the industry category

Recent reports suggest that scientists are making progress in their efforts to better understand and treat tinnitus, the ringing in the ears that is a common cause of distress among people of all ages:   SPECIALIZED APPROACH WORKS BETTER THAN STANDARD TINNITUS TREATMENT MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS—A team of researchers based at Maastricht University has found a multi-faceted approach to tinnitus to

CHAMPAIGN, lL—Otitis media, an infection of the middle ear, is one of the most common causes of temporary hearing loss among children. The condition often interferes with their ability to learn. Moreover, children who suffer from chronic ear infections that are not properly treated run the risk of developing permanent hearing loss That’s why new technology designed to improve the

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA–Someday, maybe soon, expect to see software that enables a mobile phone to screen a person for hearing loss and then wirelessly transmit the results to a medical database, where an audiologist analyzes them. This is the idea behind the Sana AudioPulse technology, devised by students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in partnership with Brazil’s Federal