50 percent of hearing loss is linked to genetic mutations. Now a researcher has discovered a significant mutation in a family of proteins that could lead to new treatments for hearing disorders.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130128113926.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

Audiologists and other hearing professionals should check out the Audiology Solutions Network website for
resources on needed information and links to suppliers and manufacturers of
hearing aids and accessories. This website is supported by the American Academy
of Audiology. Webcasts are provided frequently on topics
of interest in the field of audiology with means of networking with
other professionals. To learn more about this website, follow this link. 

Link: http://www.audiologysolutionsnetwork.org/sites

Doutre did not know her daughter had become infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) while in the womb. Daisy, now almost 2, recently became deaf because of the infection, which can also cause mental disabilities and death in some children.

The Willard mother is now pushing for state legislation that would require pregnant women be told about the virus and taught how to take precautions, along with other actions to raise awareness of CMV. Doutre’s mother and Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, are sponsoring the bill.

The virus is usually harmless to healthy adults and children who become infected. But it can cause serious disease in babies infected before birth. Nationally, 5,000 children a year develop permanent problems, most commonly hearing loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Link: http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/55663401-218/virus-cmv-daisy-women.html.csp

Parul Bhatia, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, remembers the patient well.  The girl was 3 years old and profoundly deaf. Even though she had failed a hearing test at birth, she hadn’t been treated for hearing loss.

Currently, children are only screened at birth and again just before entering kindergarten. Bhatia launched a study to see if there was a way to bridge that gap. In the three-year study, local children were tested during routine pediatric visits. Of nearly 2,000 children screened, 10% failed initial screening in at least one ear and five had permanent hearing loss.

“These are critical years for language and communication development,” Bhatia said. If the hearing loss isn’t found until the child is 4 or 5 years old, she said, “it is much harder to catch up at that point.”

Link: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-young-children-hearing-screening-20130115,0,6114210.story

The House Research Institute and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children. The trial is a surgical collaboration sponsored by the House Research Institute in partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Vittorio Colletti, MD of the University of Verona Hospital, Verona, Italy.

The clinical trial is part of a unique international consortium with the University of Verona for teaching and research to advance the use of the auditory brainstem implant (ABI) in children worldwide. The ABI is already a successful treatment with the pediatric population in Italy, and the goal of the partnership is to bring the hearing implants to deaf children in the United States.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122101334.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

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiff Argenyi in his case against Creighton University that claimed the University failed to provide appropriate accommodations during his first two years of medical school. AG Bell had filed an amicus brief in support of Argenyi and applauds the court for its reversal of the lower court’s ruling

Michael Argenyi, who recently received a cochlear implant, has been deaf since infancy and grew up using listening and spoken language. He had used Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) interpreting for many years in school and enrolled in Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, Neb.

Link: http://www.listeningandspokenlanguage.org/Document.aspx?id=1648

The Infants, Toddlers and their Families Interdisciplinary Certificate Program at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC is now accepting applications for their new cohort that will begin in May 2013. 

The first course begins with a 3-day on campus introduction and orientation to the program May 20, 21 and 22. Applications should be submitted by February 1, 2013 to guarantee a place in the program. Students may obtain either graduate credits or professional studies training credits. For more information about the program and how to apply for graduate credits, please follow this link. 

Link: http://www.gallaudet.edu/x57447.xml

The “Just in Time” tool [PDF] is designed especially for family organizations to help them in their job to support families. It contains the most essential resources identified by both families and professionals to address hearing-related needs. Family organizations, such as Family Voices, Family-to-Family Health Information Centers, Parent Training and Information Centers, and Parent-to-Parent USA chapters are invited to do the following:

• Post it on your website, allowing the hyperlinks to take the reader directly to critical information.
• Highlight the resource in your next staff meeting or conference call.
• Send it electronically to your local and state partners so they also can use it.
• Have it available as a hard-copy handout to share with families who prefer that format.
• Note the emphasis on resources with information available in other languages.

Link: http://www.infanthearing.org/familysupport/index.html

Functionally deaf patients can gain normal hearing with a new implant that replaces the middle ear. The unique invention from the Chalmers University of Technology has been approved for a clinical study. The first operation was performed on a patient in December 2012.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114092515.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

Investigators have determined that objective hearing screenings conducted during routine doctor visits are feasible and effective in detecting postnatal hearing loss. Currently, hearing screening is conducted at birth and before a child enters kindergarten leaving a large gap during which hearing loss can develop and remain undetected.  If the initial screening fails to identify a hearing deficit or if hearing loss develops during the infant/toddler years, the child misses a significant period of language and cognitive development as well as sacrificing the opportunity for early intervention. 

Link: http://scvnews.com/2013/01/15/study-shows-efficacy-of-hearing-tests-for-newborns/