More Boomers Than We Knew Have Hearing Loss
Bad news for boomers, good news for hearing aid manufacturers: A survey by The Ear Foundation finds that more American baby boomers than previously thought are losing their hearing, with nearly half the total of those aged 50 to 59 reporting some degree of hearing loss. A 1990 National Health Interview Survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that only 20 percent in a comparable group were suffering from hearing loss. Read more
Turn Down The Volume On Your IPOD
So now it’s Apple Computer’s IPOD. The London Evening Standard this week published a warning issued by the Royal National Institute of the Deaf in the U.K. that London commuters are permanently deafening themselves by turning up the volumes on their IPODs to drown out the noise in the city’s underground subway system. Read more
If You Ever Wondered Whether Early Screening Works….
Read “In This Silent World,” today’s entry in the personal weblog of British journalist Charles Arthur. It’s a beautiful, moving account of the agonizing process of discovery he and his wife went through with their newborn son. Read more
Will Mick Fleetwood Replace the Energizer Bunny?
You know a manufacturer is smelling a market opportunity when it hires an aging rock star to promote its products at a staged event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Go to the Energizer web site for hearing aid batteries and you will be treated to news of Mick Fleetwood “teaming up with Energizer® to drum out an important message for his fans’ hearing health — how to keep rockin’ responsibly.” Read more
It’s April 15. Do You Know Where Your Hearing Aids Are?
Tax Day presents an excellent opportunity to lobby your federal congressional representatives for passage of the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. The bill (H.R. 414) was filed in the House of Representatives by Congressman Jim Ryun (R-KS). It will allow Americans 55 and over and dependents 18 and younger to receive a $500 tax credit per qualified hearing aid once every five years. Read more
Resources: About.com
Jamie Berke is one of the 475 “guides” at About.com, a website that offers personal advice on everything from table tennis to headaches. She was deafened in the Rubella outbreak in the ’60s and has degrees from Gaulladet University, the leading institution devoted to deaf studies. She is About.com’s “deafness/hard of hearing” guide (http://deafness.about.com) and provides a wealth of advice and information on how to cope with hearing loss.