Research into hearing loss after exposure to loud noises could lead to
the first drug treatments to prevent the development of tinnitus.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120510100044.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fhearing_loss+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Hearing+Loss%29

In case you haven’t heard, the EHDI E-mail Express is a monthly
e-newsletter from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ “Improving the
Effectiveness of Newborn Hearing Screening, Diagnosis and Intervention
through the Medical Home project.” It is
designed to provide AAP EHDI Chapter Champions and EHDI stakeholders
with resources and current clinical and other relevant information.
Contact Faiza Khan, if you would like to subscribe.

Link: http://www.medicalhomeinfo.org/how/clinical_care/hearing_screening/#express

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Communication
Disorders (NIDCD) 1 in every 350 infants is born with a significant
hearing loss. Hearing loss occurs more often than any other medical
condition for which newborn screening is
available. To date, no treatment is available to reverse or repair an
acquired sensorineural hearing loss. Recently, the FDA approved the
first Phase I trial that will evaluate the safety of using a child’s own
cord blood stem cells to regenerate cells in the inner ear and
potentially restore a child’s hearing.

Link: http://www.emaxhealth.com/1/hospital-begins-1st-stem-cells-approved-study-treat-hearing-loss-2012#.T53vHMUOVlE.facebook

Fisher Garver is just like one of the three million other children under
18 who are living with some form of hearing loss. Doctors are now
working to identify and treat hearing loss in infants. There are a number of risk factors which could
put a child’s hearing in jeopardy. Those inlcude infants born
prematurely, anyone with a family history of hearing loss or babies who
suffered a prenatal infection they shared with their mother while in the
womb. That was exactly what Fisher’s mother faced, sensing very early
on that something was wrong.

Link: http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-doctors-work-to-identify-treat-hearing-loss-in-young-children-20120509,0,297181.column

According to the March of Dimes, about 12,000 babies with hearing loss
are born in the U.S. each year, making it one of the most common birth
defects. Kids can also lose their hearing due to illness. Wendy Kupfer’s
new picture book, Let’s Hear It For Almigal, is the story of a happy
little girl who feels unlucky because she can’t hear everything she
wants to hear. Endearing, lighthearted and informative, the book can be
enjoyed by children with and without hearing loss. It comes just in time
for Better Hearing and Speech Month in May.

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/picture-book-centers-on-girl-with-hearing-loss-one-of-americas-most-common-birth-defects-2012-05-08

The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing launched the Listening and Spoken Language Knowledge Center,
the essential Internet resource for parents of children with hearing
loss, individuals with hearing loss and professionals who serve them. Content on the Knowledge Center will be focused on guiding parents
through the stages that their children will experience as they grow up
with hearing loss.

Link: http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/AG-Bell-Launches-the-Listening-and-Spoken-3544840.php#ixzz1uOGgA355

Most babies are born into the culture and community of their
families. If the family is Latino or Tatar or Han Chinese, so is the
baby. The baby learns the family’s language — “the mother tongue.”
Culture and language are passed down from parents to child. Except when the child is born deaf. Most parents simply whisper and coo to their children in their native
tongues. We had to decide — and quickly — what our daughters’ native
tongue would be. Should we try to get our daughters access to spoken
language through hearing technology, or to immerse them (and ourselves)
in American Sign Language, or to try to do both? Read this story from a mother’s perspective of raising two deaf daughters and the choices they made as parents.

Link: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/teaching-a-deaf-child-her-mothers-tongue/

DIGITAL hearing aids can do wonders for faded hearing. But other devices
can help, too, as audio technology adds new options to help people
converse at a noisy restaurant, or talk quietly with a pharmacist at a
crowded drugstore counter. Read about
how technology is helping Richard Einhorn, a composer who suddenly lost
much of his hearing two years ago. He pops on a pair of in-ear earphones
and snaps a directional mike on his iPhone, which has an app to amplify
and process sound.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/technology/audio-devices-give-new-options-to-those-hard-of-hearing.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

This edition includes such items as:

• CDC stats on newborns in the U.S. not passing or not receiving the newborn hearing screening
• The difference some early Head Start programs are making in Florida
• Partnership efforts between the EHS of Carey Services and Indiana State EHDI

Link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs073/1102782899287/archive/1109869106239.html

The
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a groundbreaking trial
to evaluate the safety of using a child’s own cord-blood stem cells to
regenerate cells in the inner ear—and potentially restore the child’s
hearing. The year-long Phase 1 study, which began on Jan. 10, will
follow 10 children who have a moderate to profound unilateral or
bilateral hearing loss.

Link: http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2012/120424/Regenerating-Hearing--Researchers-Begin-First-Ever-Study-of-Stem-Cells-to-Treat-Hearing-Loss.htm