ASHA Sounds Alarm About Potential for Serious Hearing Loss, Other Harm, From Use of LRADs for Crowd Control
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND — The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is today issuing a warning to the public about the hearing and other health dangers posed by exposure to long-range acoustic devices (LRADs). Originally developed for the military, LRADs have been used in cities to communicate with and disperse large crowds—emitting sounds of up to 162 decibels.…
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Researchers Prevent Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Mice Using Drug Compound
Loud noise can damage the inner ear and cause hearing loss. Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Iowa have shown that a drug compound can block damage caused by loud noise, raising the possibility of medication that prevents noise-induced hearing loss. The study is published…
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Kids That Use Portable Music Players More Than Twice as Likely to Have Hearing Loss
According to a newly published study in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, children who listen to music through headphones may be at significantly greater risk of noise-related hearing loss. Dutch researchers examined hearing test results from over 3,000 children, between the ages of 9 to 11. They also asked parents to report on hearing complaints…
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Noise is the New Secondhand Smoke
New York City, American’s largest metropolis, fields about 50,000 non-emergency, 311 calls each day, and the No. 1 complaint is noise. In a city whose cacophony can reach 95 dB in midtown Manhattan — way above the federal government’s recommended average of no more than 70 dB — the commotion over all that racket involves…
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GN Announces Development of New Communication Device for Soldiers in Combat
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Hearing aid maker, GN Store Nord, announced today that it has developed a new hearing protection device that allows soldiers to communicate on the battlefield, while also protecting their hearing. GN says that it will begin participating in military tenders in the US and with other NATO-countries this year, but says the…
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Frequency Therapeutics Announces Successful Completion of First-in-Human Study of FX-322, Company’s Leading Candidate for Hearing Restoration
WOBURN, MASSACHUSSETTS – Biotech startup, Frequency Therapeutics, announced late last month the successful completion of a first-in-human study of the company’s investigative compound FX-322, the company’s lead Progenitor Cell Activation (PCA) candidate for hearing restoration. The preliminary results were recently presented at a lecture last month at the US-Japan Symposium on Drug Delivery. According to…
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Boston-Based Biotech, Akouos, Nets $7.5M Investment to “Restore and Preserve Hearing”
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — Biotechnology startup, Akouos, announced that it has raised $7.5 million in seed funding. The company, which was spun out of the Harvard Innovation Labs, is developing novel therapies and delivery systems to prevent hearing loss and restore hearing in genetically defined populations. New Enterprise Associates (NEA), who led the seed funding along…
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New Study Finds No Relationship Between Common Recreational Noise Exposure, “Hidden Hearing Loss”
DALLAS, TEXAS — According to a recently published study, no relationship has been found between common recreational noise exposure and so-called “hidden hearing loss”. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Dallas, was published last month in Frontiers in Neuroscience. Previously, researchers have proposed that recreational noise exposure may result in…
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Study finds Sensorion’s Investigative Drug Prevented Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss By More Than 50 Percent
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE — French biotech firm, Sensorion, announced the upcoming publication this week in the Journal of Otology & Neurotology of a new study showing oral clinical-stage SENS-401 (the company’s investigative drug) significantly prevented cisplatin-induced hearing loss in preclinical models. Cisplatin, a commonly-used chemotherapy agent to treat various forms of cancer, causes significant levels of…
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Budget Cuts, Lack of Funding, Come at Expense of People with Hearing Loss
SASKATCHEWAN PROVINCE, CANADA — Patient wait times to see an audiologist are about to get even longer for residents in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Two audiologists, one in Saskatoon and another in Prince Albert, were among the 70 positions terminated by the Saskatoon Health Region last month in order to balance its budget. The two audiologists…
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