All posts by nchamstaff

Mediclinic City Hospital and hearLIFE Clinic announce partnership to treat hearing loss in Dubai

Mediclinic City Hospital and hearLIFE Clinic, both in Dubai Healthcare City, have formed a unique alliance to provide the most advanced services in the treatment of hearing loss. The hearLIFE Clinic is the first clinic in the Middle East purely dedicated to the treatment of hearing loss, and their services include state-of-the-art cochlear implants.

Link: http://www.ameinfo.com/mediclinic-city-hospital-hearlife-clinic-announce-330136

Imaging technique offers look inside hearing loss

For the first time, researchers have snapped pictures of mouse inner ear cells using an approach that doesn’t damage tissue or require elaborate dyes. The approach could offer a way to investigate hearing loss — the most common sensory deficit in the world — and may help guide the placement of cochlear devices or other implants.

Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348394/description/Imaging_technique_offers_look_inside_hearing_loss

The February edition of Probes and Tips is now available: ABCs of Hearing & Hearing Loss

The February edition of Probes and Tips is now available:  ABCs of Hearing & Hearing Loss.
This edition includes such items as:

  • A highlight of the Hearing Loss in Young Children webinar (45 mins.) that covers topics, such as:
  1. Anatomy of the ear
  2. Types/Degrees of hearing loss
  3. Simulation of a hearing loss
  4. Roles of Early Head Start staff
  • You  can watch the webinar at your convenience and pass the link along to others who could benefit from it.

Link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs154/1102782899287/archive/1112338439675.html

New way to test hearing loss drugs in people

Researchers at the University of Florida have figured out the longstanding problem of how to safely create temporary, reversible hearing loss in order to see how well new drugs work. “There’s a real need for drug solutions to hearing loss,” says lead investigator Colleen Le Prell, an associate professor in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences.

About 26 million American adults have noise-induced hearing loss, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Prevention is key because damage to hearing-related hair cells in the inner ear by loud noise is irreversible.

Link: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/new-way-to-test-hearing-loss-drugs-in-people/

Researchers Develop Rx for Deafness and Impaired Balance in Mouse Model of Usher Syndrome

Researchers report that hearing and balance can be rescued by a new therapy in a mouse model of Usher syndrome that contains the mutation responsible for type 1C Usher. The results provide the first evidence that congenital deafness can be effectively overcome by treatment early in development to correct gene expression. Read the article to find out more.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130204153903.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

Discovering the missing LINC to deafness

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

Audiology Solutions Netork Website

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

Alert Utah families that common virus endangers babies

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

A study finds that young children should have hearing tested more frequently

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