NEWBORN SCREENING
In order for babies to have positive speech, language, and listening outcomes, infants must undergo hearing screening. For those who don’t pass initial screenings, the most critical diagnostic test is the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test. An accurate and reliable predictor of hearing loss in infants, this simple, non-invasive procedure measures electrical impulses as a […]
PREDETERMINATION
It is estimated that more than one out of three individuals have “pre-diabetes,” which develops before type-2 diabetes. Moreover, 90 percent of these individuals are unaware that they are pre-diabetic. Pre-diabetic is characterized by blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Fortunately, research shows […]
BREAKING THE FEEDBACK CYCLE
One of the primary complaints of older hearing instruments revolved around the problem of “acoustic feedback,” which occurs when some of the amplified sound leaks from the ear canal back into the microphone and becomes re-amplified. This cycle of leakage and re-amplification (known as the “feedback cycle”) results in a loud squealing sound that wearers […]
THE COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT
The term “cocktail party effect” refers to the human ability to focus on a single speaker while turning out noisy background noise. Research indicates that the left side of our brain picks out the desired sounds from the background noise. This makes sense when you take into account that speech signals are processed in the […]
IMPROVED HEARING BOOSTS BRAIN POWER
Hearing loss can compromise cognitive ability because the brain must put added effort into understanding speech. Thus, it makes sense that new research indicates that providing individuals with hearing instruments not only helps them hear better, but it also boosts their brain function. When researchers examined people in their 50s and 60s with bilateral sensorineural […]
DEMONSTRATING IMPULSE CONTROL
Today’s digital hearing instruments use “algorithms” (which are sets of step-by-step instructions that are used to accomplish a task) to analyze and categorize incoming sounds. In effect, these sophisticated algorithms can intercept sounds, code them, and cleanse them before they reach the listener’s ear. With this in mind, a hearing instrument with the “impulse noise […]
PAINKILLERS LINKED TO HEARING LOSS IN WOMEN
Regular readers of this column know that one of the best ways to avoid hearing loss is to reduce exposure to loud noise. Now, new research suggests that prolonged use of certain painkillers is also linked to hearing loss in women. While the magnitude of the hearing loss uncovered by researchers may be modest, the […]
AUDITORY FATIGUE
The inner ear contains delicate “hair cells” that are responsible for converting sound-induced vibrations into electrical impulses that are recognizable to the brain. These hair cells resemble blades of grass on a lawn. When subjected to loud noise, however, these hair cells look as though they had been beaten down by hard rain. This is […]
COMMUNICATING WITH THE HEARING IMPAIRED
Regardless of how old you are or what you do, you are likely to meet someone who suffers from hearing loss. To facilitate conversation, it is important not to begin speaking until you have the attention of the person with whom you wish to converse. Once you have engaged the other person’s eyes, make sure […]
THE SMALLEST OF THE SMALL
For those who are intent on wearing a hearing instrument that is so tiny that they will be the only ones to know that they are wearing one, there is the “Invisible-in-the-Canal” (IIC) hearing instrument. These instruments, which are custom-fitted from impressions of the wearer’s ear canal, are positioned so deeply inside the ear that […]