The Audiology Condition

Despite United’s persistent efforts to discourage air travel for people who are teenagers, wear leggings, or have assigned seats, it’s likely that many readers have a trip planned by air in the near future. Those who wear hearing aids may wonder what’s in store for them, their hearing aids, and their batteries when checking luggage, clearing security, and getting airborne.

Last week’s post  initiated a discussion of diet, specifically antioxidants and vitamins, as “… one of the few modifiable risk factors for age-related hearing loss” (Gopinath et al 2011).  Today’s post summarizes salient features of several investigations of hearing loss and dietary risk factors which derive their findings from longitudinal epidemiological health studies of different subject groups in different countries: United

Large scale data from a number of epidemiological studies is yielding valuable insights into incidence and prevalence of hearing loss in different cohorts.  As just one example, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study data tells us that 93% of white men in the 60-69 age group have high frequency hearing loss and 43% have hearing loss in

Over the years, The Audiology Condition has socked away items of interest for active Seniors who may find themselves consulting with Audiologists.   The following are light-hearted articles but each contains a hearing nugget worth thinking about for active Seniors seeking hearing help.     Seniors are the New Awesome   Back in the day, patients thought hearing loss meant

We’ve long known that there is some association between lead exposure and hearing function (peripheral and central) in adults. The effects of heavy metals on adult hearing as a result of workplace exposure have been studied fairly extensively.  An up to date review of 49 studies was published last year (Castallanos & Fuente, 2016). Less is known about the effect

Occasionally, The Audiology Condition posts on scientific studies that catch our interest, not because they necessarily have clinical application, but because they give insight into how hearing works and why hearing is important not only to humans but to other species as well.   Today’s post looks at tiny organisms less than a millimeter in size.  Who knew they had

Last week’s post on aging and hearing loss concluded that “there is ongoing research to guide present-day decision-making” by consumers and providers. Today’s post contains the promised list of research projects and articles, provided here for easy access and review by all those who believe that hearing health matters.        Clinical Studies   As examples, The Lin Research Group is

For years, our field and industry have been bandying around rule-of-thumb statistics, chief among them that somewhere between 25-50% of people 65 and over have hearing loss that is sufficient to interfere with normal communication.  Who knows where that statistic came from? It’s a heuristic that’s gained the mantel of truth over time.  And the stated range of 25 to 50%, was too broad

In recent years, research from animal models and now human modeling has suggested a brain locus for tinnitus, rather than the ear-level origin assumed previously.  Research into tinnitus has become much more sophisticated of late, and is changing the common understanding of the disorder and providing the first testable model of human tinnitus that could provide some new avenues for

The hearing aid industry has long promoted the ideas that good hearing promotes good mental health and that hearing aids help ensure this relationship.  The overall concept is that restoring good hearing to our patients helps build good communication, which enables building of strong social relationships, which helps keep depression at bay, which contributes positively to measures of patients’ Quality of