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    Hearing Loss Far More Common Than Expected

    MONDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Hearing loss affects about one-fifth of Americans aged 12 and older, a far higher number than previously believed, researchers report.

    They examined data from people whose hearing was tested during National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2001 to 2008.

    Based on the World Health Organization's definition of hearing loss (unable to hear sounds of 25 decibels or less in the speech frequencies), the NHANES data showed that 12.7 percent (30 million people) of the U.S. population aged 12 and older had hearing loss in both ears and 20.3 percent (48 million people) had hearing loss in at least one ear.

    Previous estimates put the numbers at 21 million to 29 million.

    This new study also found that rates of hearing loss nearly doubled with every decade of age, and that women and blacks were significantly less likely to have hearing loss at any age.

    It's not clear why women and blacks are less likely to experience hearing loss, study leader Dr. Frank Lin said in a university news release.

    Lin is an assistant professor with dual appointments in both the department of otolaryngology-head & neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and in the department of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

    It may be that the female hormone estrogen and the melanin pigment in darker skin could have a protective effect on the inner ear, which Lin and colleagues plan to investigate in future studies.

    Lin said the findings of this study, published Nov. 14 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, will help research into hearing loss and its potential consequences such as cognitive decline, dementia and poor physical functioning.

    "This gives us the real scope of the problem for the first time and shows us how big of a problem hearing loss really is," Lin said.

    More information

    The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has more about hearing loss.

     
    • DAMIANM  •  6 mths ago
      Come by mine honest. Gunfire and rock and roll.
      • Scootter 6 mths ago
        The world could use less of each of your honest hearing loss causes.
      • Darkangel 6 mths ago
        What no rolling thunder? or those GD tanks.
      • eaamon 6 mths ago
        not just rolling thunder but all motorcycles with loud pipes.
        or the wind noise that helmets create.....
    • overbid2002  •  6 mths ago
      So who listens anymore?
    • Micah S  •  6 mths ago
      Is there any way to just specifically tune out the Kardashians?
      • Oliver Clothesoff 6 mths ago
        No kidding. We are all sick of them.
      • sam 6 mths ago
        Don't watch a stupid commercial media that trys to stuff them down your throat.
      • Moe 6 mths ago
        Avoid using Yahoo!
    • bunny  •  Kansas City, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Rock concerts in our misspent youth???
      • Richard 6 mths ago
        I loved misspending my youth!
      • Linda 6 mths ago
        What a way to have lost partial hearing, still loving the rock music.
      • Rachael 6 mths ago
        I was in a metal band for 5 years in my early 20s, and I know it affected my hearing. I consider myself lucky because my hear is still more or less OK, but some of the people I knew back then are struggling with major hearing loss.
    • RJ  •  6 mths ago
      It is not surprising to those of us who get irritated being next to people (of any age) who blast their stupid music over their ear phones.
      • 7 6 mths ago
        yup - the MP3 generation is next
      • Ron 6 mths ago
        Sometimes, I would hear a car going by, and the music is blasting away, especially the bass. Now, if I can hear it, I hate to see the affects on the driver of that car.
      • S 6 mths ago
        I bet Buster my last dime that you did the exact same thing with radios,car stereo's ,earphones. Now for you it's become irritating for your tastes at this stage in your life.
    • Southern Acoustics  •  Orlando, United States  •  6 mths ago
      booming super load car stereos!!!!
    • F M  •  6 mths ago
      Went to a concert and forgot my earplugs. I paid the price.
    • anonymous  •  Elmhurst, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Most people just assume that hearing aids will be the answer but for a number of us it just is not true. Hearing aids are not one size fits all and they do not correct the problem like glasses do. It is a hidden disability that the non hearing impaired cannot relate to.
    • Harold  •  6 mths ago
      huh????
    • Bob  •  6 mths ago
      A word about concerts. I played in a rock band myself for many years (in the 70's). At some venues, even then. they would turn us up so loud that I had to stuff my ears with cotton to stand it. But that was not the usual case. I can no longer go to any concert because the deaf sound men (idiots who run the boards) crank everything up so loud that it is painful. Even acoustic acts are so cranked up that it makes my ears feel like they are going to bleed.
      I went to hear a concert by a famous old folkie a few months ago, and they had the sound so loud that even when he was just talking between songs his voice was giving me a splitting headache. And people think this kind of sound level is "normal"! People routinely pass cotton around the audience, cover their ears, wear ear protecters, etc. If they would just turn down the insaely loud sound none of this would be necessary.
    • JB  •  6 mths ago
      hearing loss won't be the worst of your problems if you damage your eardrum with excessive loud music. you would wish you was deaf and not hear constant ringing in your ears.
    • clarence  •  6 mths ago
      Grinders, air-tools, gasoline driven welders, Jack hammers, saws. Life's a trade-off. Personally, I'm still glad to have lived it. Sorry, I didn't catch that.
    • blueoval62  •  6 mths ago
      I just wish I had a portable EMP generator to disable vehicles next to me at stop lights that have "music" blaring so loud it rattles my windows.
    • StardustBound  •  6 mths ago
      What?
    • Bill  •  Wallingford, United States  •  6 mths ago
      why aren't hearing aids covered under insurance?????????????????????
    • RT  •  6 mths ago
      Let's not forget that 20 somethings and higher are also going to war. My husband lost some hearing riding in helicopters. They wear ear plugs but someone took his before a black hawk ride and that combined with other horribly loud battle sounds have made him a bit hard of hearing at 31. He's kind of like an old man honestly
    • Topsy  •  6 mths ago
      He: I Just got a new hearing aid, and now I hear everything perfectly. She: Really? What kind is it? He: Oh,about four o'clock.
    • brother bluto  •  Union, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Health Insurance plans don't cover hearing aids, and 25% of population need them!
    • drea  •  St. Louis, United States  •  6 mths ago
      i myself being hearing impaired find it totally stupid that insurance policies do not cover the cost of hearing aids when glasses are easily covered. the cost of 1 hearing aid cost me $1800.00 out of my own pocket. it hurts even more when you are a family of 6 on 1 income. imagine people who need 2 of them! my dad just got a cochlier(spelling) implant and the surgery would have cost $15,000 and upwards if he hadn't gotten it done through the va. i have lost over 53% of my hearing due to a heriditary disease, and yet i'm not "disabled" and can not collect benifits.
    • Bear  •  Columbus, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I bet they will eventually find a correlation to the number of males with hearing loss and the number of men in the study who are married.
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