AudiologyOnline Takes You Around the Web in 60 Seconds! - Vol. 4, No. 11

AudiologyOnline uses the latest in internet scanning and retrieval technology to find hearing health-related news and web sites from around the world. This information is then compiled and summarized by our President & Editor-in-Chief, Paul Dybala, Ph.D., and Associate Editor, Kristi Albers, M.A., so that you can take a virtual trip around the "hearing health world wide web" in 60 seconds!

This edition of "Around the Web" (ATW) includes: phonagnosia - a rare condition when one can't recognize any voices, special playground safe for CI wearers, new ear pressure equalizer sucks out eardrum, bats have larger cochleas for better high frequency hearing, Janet Jackson suffers vestibular migraines and an Apple a day can make your hearing go away. Read about these and other stories below.

If you have an item to add to this list, please send it to the Editor via the Contact Us section of the web site.

Headset phones cause few risks to hearing loss - 11/04/2008
siouxcityjournal.com
Time and volume are the key factors when considering the possibility of hearing damage from headsets.

High-tech phones helping hearing-impaired in Utah - 11/03/2008
deseretnews.com
A program helping deaf and hard-of-hearing Utahns is 20 years old and as strong as ever. Relay Utah, a relay service to help those people make telephone calls, distributed 566 specialized telephones between January and September, putting it on track for its busiest year

Small wonder for hearing loss - 11/01/2008
dailypress.com
For some, the sound is that of crickets chirping, for others it's bacon frying, or even a high-pitched ringing sound.

These inside-the-head noises are symptomatic of tinnitus, a side effect of damage to the nerve endings in the inner ear and its accompanying hearing loss. Ironically, such hearing loss may also involve a heightened sensitivity to loud noises, says audiologist Deborah Minnis.

Online Hearing Conservation Workshop Launched - 10/31/2008
ohsonline.com
House Ear Institute launches a new online hearing conservation workshop.

Gene research identifies human hair loss genes - 10/31/2008
upsu.ne
Seven gene variants linked to male-pattern baldness have been revealed at Bjorn and Dusseldorf University. Further breakthroughs in this area could one day be used to cure deafness as well because most hearing loss is caused by the inability in mammals to replace damaged hair cells

Military Equipment Noise Costs $900 Million and Veterans' Hearing - 10/31/2008
marketwatch.com
According to a recent article "Equipment Noise is Accelerating Hearing Loss." New equipment, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), are so loud "the technology to protect users from damage does not yet exist," says the article, and "it's not a matter of whether but when and how badly operators will suffer permanent hearing damage."

Callier Helped Put Client on Path to Her Dreams - 10/30/2008
utdallas.edu
A patient of Callier Center is forever grateful for the care she received there...she is headed to Stanford in 2012.

Woman cannot recognise any voice except Sir Sean Connery - 10/30/2008
telegraph.co.uk
A British woman has been diagnosed with a rare condition, called phonagnosia which means she is unable to recognise any voices except that of former James Bond actor Sir Sean Connery.

Tucson helping the hard of hearing - 10/30/2008
kvoa.com
t's estimated that 70,000 Tucsonans are hard of hearing. To cope, many read lips or depend on closed captioning. Now there's an effort underway to loop Tucson.

The soldier's dilemma - save your ears or save your life - 10/30/2008
timesonline.co.uk
Soldiers often sacrifice their hearing for their life.

Deafness is the new scourge of British troops in Afghanistan - 10/30/2008
timesonline.co.uk
American troops are not alone in the affects of war. British troops now seeing a rise in hearing loss among war heroes.

Ear buds are not necessarily an ear's best friend - 10/30/2008
buffalonews.com
With millions of iPods and other MP3 players in the hands of consumers, the portable media players have made a racket in the marketplace for years. Now some experts warn that the devices make too much noise.

Interview With A Cyborg - 10/29/2008
forbes.com
A scientist who has been his own subject is finding cyborg knowledge that is being fed directly into work on medical devices such as cochlear implants that can restore hearing to the deaf and deep brain stimulators to quiet the tremors of patients with Parkinson's disease. Amazing what the future holds.

Technology advances improve hearing aids - 10/29/2008
suburbanchicagonews.com
Two audiologists share their views on technology and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

Cardiovascular Disease Ranks as Global #1 Killer - 10/28/2008
healthnews.com
Hearing loss listed among the 20 leading causes of worldwide disabilities, according to a 2004 WHO study released.

Address subtle signs of onset of hearing loss - 10/28/2008
pressdemocrat.com
Family physician urges those who suspect hearing loss to address "signs" that may be occurring.

Shen woman can 'hear you now' - 10/28/2008
valleynewstoday.com
With the help of cochlear implants, one 40-year old woman from Iowa can now hear the sounds that gradually slipped away from her.

Thanks to Hassenfeld, playground has boundless appeal for children - 10/28/2008
projo.com
Retired chairman and CEO of Hasbro, Alan Hassenfeld, donated money for a park designed for children with special needs. Of particular interest to our readers...it's made of metal so children with cochlear implants don't have to risk having their implants becoming "deprogrammed" by the friction caused by plastic slides.

Audience raises the bar for advanced noise suppression - 10/28/2008
mobiletechnews.com
Audience raises the bar for advanced noise suppression in mobile phones with its new voice processor that is modeled after the human hearing system. By understanding the auditory pathway - from the cochlea to the brainstem to the thalamus and cortex - Audience is the first company to deliver a commercial product based on the science of Auditory Scene Analysis (ASA), or the grouping and processing of complex mixtures of sound.

Taking Wing: Uncovering the Evolutionary Origins of Bats - 10/28/2008
sciam.com
Bats ability to echolate never ceases to amaze auditory enthusiasts and biology buffs. Although they are mammals and have very similar auditory systems to humans, there are differences. When compared with other mammals, echolocating bats have a cochlea that is enlarged relative to other skull structures, which makes them better able to detect high-frequency sounds and to discriminate among different frequencies of these sounds.

Ear Pressure Equaliser Sucks On Your Eardrum to Un-Pop It in Planes - 10/28/2008
gizmodo.com.au
No more plugging the nose and blowing? Hmmm,still sounds painful - I'll stick with big yawns and wads of gum!

Hearing hazards on the battlefield and dancefloor - 10/27/2008
timesonline.co.uk
Europe had a replacement for the Songbird...HearPlus.

The Unappreciated, Holding Our Lives in Balance - 10/27/2008
nytimes.com
A unique look at the power of our vestibular systems and how it has made its way into a very important college book.

Stuart Karten Design's Zon Hearing Aid Wins 2008 Cooper-Hewitt People's Design Award - 10/27/2008
dexigner.com
Congrats to the Starkey Zon for winning a design award.

Click and Clack: Hearing aids, a new car or dump the girlfriend? - 10/26/2008
cantonrep.com
A guy took a gal on a date and she told him she thought he needs to get his hearing tested - the radio is too loud. So he got hearing aids on a trail basis and realized his car is making a ton of noise. His dilemma - buy the hearing aids or get a new car? Sad that he is even questioning that...

Hearing loss doesn't discourage veterinarian - 10/26/2008
tallahassee.com
When you talk to Laurel Elliott, you would never guess that as an infant she suffered profound hearing loss after a high fever. She has gone on to live her dream become a veterinarian.

Special education cuts sting - 10/26/2008
boston.com
Massachusetts local officials are knocking Governor Deval Patrick's decision to slash $13.5 million from the state budget used to fund special education, saying they must now pick up the tab even though they are already struggling with dwindling revenues. Programs, such as Audiology, are feared to be cut.

Breaking the 'Sound Barrier' for Enhanced Classroom Learning - 10/25/2008
peterli.com
The ability to hear properly, especially in pre-school and elementary school classrooms, is one of the most important factors in a child's ability to process and learn new information. According to the Institute for Enhanced Classroom Learning, children in today's classrooms have difficulty understanding 20 to 30 percent of what their teacher said because of excessive ambient background noise, reverberation, and a poor signal to noise ratio (SNR).

New test detects most genetic diseases in embryos - 10/24/2008
guardian.co.uk
The new technique, dubbed a "genetic MoT", is designed to help parents at risk of passing on genetic defects to conceive healthy children using IVF treatment. The process could detect the genetic mutations responsible for conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease.

Final decision: UT audiology clinics will stay in Knoxville - 10/24/2008
wate.com
The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a plan that allows the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology and its clinics to keep operating.

An Apple a day can make your hearing go away - 10/24/2008
seaholmhighlander.com
New study reveals listening to an iPod just an hour a day for five years straight at volumes over 89 decibels, or full iPod volume, will greatly increase the odds of hearing trouble, if not absolute loss.

Picking Up Good Vibrations (With Limitations) - 10/23/2008
heraldtribune.com
HEARING aids provide many benefits, but they do not restore hearing to normal, and that is a tough lesson to learn for many people who use them.

Protect your Children's Hearing - 10/23/2008
nymetroparents.com
These days, headphones are everywhere. From the more upscale "noise-reduction" models to the ubiquitous white earbuds courtesy of Apple's iPod range, headphones are now the preferred choice of most pre-teens and teens for connecting with their music. And for parents, that presents a couple of problems...

Listen up - 10/23/2008
pioneerlocal.com
Teenagers and young adults don't usually think about the damage loud noises can have on their hearing when they get ready for a night out. But Maripili Ortiz, 22,of Mundelein found out the hard way how important it is to pay attention to the noise level around you.

Bruins' Coleman helps hearing-impaired youngster - 10/23/2008
dailybreeze.com
Yvonne Johnson couldn't get her son, Ramon, to wear his hearing aids during his Pop Warner football games for the J1 Valley Panthers, so Yvonne enlisted UCLA running back Derrick Coleman to help her.

Audiology Researcher Adding to List of Accolades - 10/23/2008
utdallas.edu
Dr. James Jerger, distinguished scholar in residence at the UT Dallas School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, has received numerous honors in his 54-year career. This year is proving to be no exception. During the next few months, Jerger will be recognized for a lifetime of contributions to the field of audiology.

U offers ear-mold headphones to reduce outside noise - 10/22/2008
mndaily.com
On the University of Minnesota's campus, it seems more the rule than the exception to see students taking aural mini-vacations as they walk between classes with headphones in their ears. However, students may unknowingly be putting themselves at risk for hearing problems down the road.

People with hearing loss often unaware of condition - 10/22/2008
suburbanchicagonews.com
Nearly 36 million Americans have hearing loss. More than half of the people with hearing loss are younger than age 65. However, many people who have hearing loss either are in denial or are just not aware that they are having problems.

Too loud for comfort Permanent hearing loss found from listening to portable music players at high levels - 10/22/2008
suburbanchicagonews.com
Hearing experts have been raising warning flags about possible hearing loss from MP3 players, cell phones and other devices that play music through ear buds for a while now. A whole generation is risking their hearing, we have been told. Those warnings just reached a higher level of urgency with a study released last week.

William Demant says customers postpone buys - paper - 10/22/2008
forbes.com
The hearing aid industry has not escaped the financial pinch from the current credit crisis. Industry leaders feel consumers are postponing purchases.

Association for Late Deafened Adults lends support - 10/22/2008
post-trib.com
There are many support groups for the hearing-challenged;however the Association for Late Deafened Adults has special concerns for those who lose their hearing as adults.

Study: Loud headphones may lead to long-term hearing loss - 10/22/2008
dailytoreador.com
A study released by the European Union's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks found that those who listen to personal music players for five hours per week at high-volumes put their hearing in jeopardy.

COCHLEAR chief executive Chris Roberts said today the company was well positioned to ride out recent turmoil in world markets. - 10/21/2008
theaustralian.news.com
COCHLEAR chief executive Chris Roberts said the company is well positioned to ride out recent turmoil in world markets.

The tongue tingler that will stop you falling over - 10/21/2008
dailymail.co.uk
A device that fires electric current into the tongue could help thousands of people who suffer from balance problems. The unlikely-sounding device works by sending a low power current into different areas of the tongue to alert the patient to their stance.

Colorado Newborns at Most Risk Miss Hearing Screening Tests - 10/21/2008
hbns.org
A new study of Colorado birth records shows that infants with low Apgar scores — the widely used measure of newborn health — are 10 times less likely to receive an initial hearing loss screening than babies with normal Apgars. Low-weight babies also are four times more likely to go untested. In both cases, these babies are at greater risk for the most common birth defect: hearing loss.

Group Is Helping People Hear The World - 10/21/2008
wkyt.com
Phonak's "Hear the World" is helping people in eastern Kentucky hear the world. The free service is changing the lives of many people in the mountains.

Helping those overseas and at home hear better - 10/20/2008
canada.com
Regina audiologist Lisa Richardson made sure the voices of children in Cairo, Egypt weren't going unheard. Richardson, 13 other Canadians and a dozen representatives from the Starkey Hearing Foundation of the United States recently spent a week in Cairo helping to fit 4,800 hearing devices on 2,400 children and adults.

Cards alert Port St. Lucie police when driver is deaf - 10/20/2008
palmbeachpost.com
An officer pulls someone over. He gives out instructions, but the driver doesn't respond. The officer thinks he is being disobeyed - and there could be a million bad reasons. But what if the driver is deaf? So Port St. Lucie police have partnered with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of the Treasure Coast to make sure this doesn't happen.

Cutting health costs will require innovation - 10/20/2008
vindy.com
A professor of economics at California State University, Northridge, and author of a new Cato Institute study on medical licensing said this: "..And we need to oppose the move requiring audiologists to have doctorates. Patients should have low-cost options when it comes to getting a simple hearing test. Likewise, we need to repeal laws that require physician assistants, physical therapists and nurse practitioners to have master's degrees."

Sprint Nextel expands hearing-impaired cellphone solution - 10/20/2008
rcrwireless.com
Sprint Nextel Corp. is making an effort to adapt its services for an older crowd.

Health care system, heal thyself - 10/20/2008
utdmercury.com
Aage Møller's new book addresses the mysteries of tinnitus.

If I have trouble hearing in one ear, is it dangerous? - 10/20/2008
boston.com
Sudden loss of hearing could be conductive or sensorineural. One ENT explains it is important to have it checked out but suggests one simple test for for persons to do at home first.

New CMU Driving Simulator To Help Older Drivers, Make Roads Safer - 10/19/2008
wwj.com
A one-of-a-kind center at Central Michigan University, the Center for Driving Evaluation, Education and Research, also known as the DEER Center, is on a mission to keep people driving safely longer. Drivers will be referred for various services if needed following the evaluation, which includes audiology services.

Eighth-graders get hearing lesson with 'Listen Up!' - 10/19/2008
palmbeachdailynews.com
Listen Up!, a new book inspired by a West Palm Beach resident, is being presented by eighth-grade teachers to educate students on how loud sounds in their everyday lives can contribute to hearing.

The gift of hearing - 10/18/2008
gvnews.com
the Twilight Wish Foundation, a national non-profit organization that celebrates special seniors by giving them a surprise "thank you" in the form of a wish come true provided one senior with new hearing aids - with the help of GN ReSound.

Dear Abby Refers Reader to an Audiologist - 10/17/2008
chicagotribune.com
A writer tells Abby she is losing her sanity with her husband who is putting of hearing aids do to cost. Scroll down, it is the third Dear Abby letter.

UCLA tailback Derrick Coleman turns hearing disability to his advantage - 10/17/2008
latimes.com
"I just went from being a child who never talked to one who never shuts up," Derek Coleman, UCLA football player said, smiling. "Sometimes I felt a little out of place because I had a hearing aid. But at the same time, I did everything the other kids did."

Sound Design a Safe Bet - 10/17/2008
psfk.com
It seems a product's 'sound' may be of equal importance to its visual and tactile qualities. Industrial designer Elif Özcan Vieira believes consumers form value and trust opinions of a design based largely on the product's sound quality. Recently completing her PhD in the auditory benefits of design, Özcan Vieira found that sound plays an integral role in our quality discernment.

Music & hearing - 10/16/2008
baynews9.com
What's a high school football game without a marching band performance? But some musicians could be damaging their hearing.

Surgical implants can help when hearing aids can't - 10/16/2008
wral.com
New surgical implants could help people who can't use regular hearing aids regain the use of their ears. Called the called a Vibrant Soundbridge, the implant vibrates staples placed in a bone at the oval window.

Dealing With a Migraine Like Janet Jackson's - 10/16/2008
health.usnews.com
Janet Jackson recently suffered from a vestibular migraines. A vestibular migraine involves the illusion of movement and can be disabling and is often referred to migraine-associated vertigo.

Canary brains hold key to cocktail party effect - 10/16/2008
jhunewsletter.com
This human phenomenon in which the brain zeroes in on sounds from an important source while simultaneously ignoring other noises is called "the cocktail party effect." Scientists still aren't certain how humans discriminate between auditory signals, but this same type of neural "selection" is better understood in animals that rely solely on auditory signals to find mates, such as songbirds.

Turn down the volume! - 10/14/2008
realsimple.com
Real Simple gives their readers advice to turn down the volume in the section Simply Stated.

Wind turbines may be unhealthy, new book warns - 10/14/2008
northwestern.edu
A controversial topic - does the constant low noise level from wind turbines cause health problems?

Children learn to hear in class - 10/14/2008
marshallparthenon.com
West Virginia's first auditory-oral preschool for the hearing impaired prepares prepares deaf children and children with cochlear implants to become oral communicators by kindergarten.

Sonic Innovations Sounds Good - 10/13/2008
zacks.com
Update on Sonic's stock value.

Is hearing loss a sign of dementia? - 10/12/2008
huliq.com
Is hearing loss an early sign of Alzheimer's disease or related dementias? Central auditory testing may act as an early screen for cognitive decline in the elderly, researchers have said.

Tinnitus: Can't stop the pealing - 10/12/2008
sacbee.com
As one woman explains, tinnitus often has a mind of its own.

Field Attenuation Study Shows Individual Training Key to Hearing Protector Effectiveness - 10/10/2008
mromagazine.com
A recent study showed one-on-one training was the most effective factor in predicting real-world protection for noise protection devices. Findings support that persons who wear noise protection must wear them accurately for them to be effective.

Chivers discusses hearing loss at Dazzle Daze kickoff - 10/10/2008
thecabin.net
Mrs. Arkansas America, Dr. Courtney Chivers of Arkansas Audiology, spoke at a community fundraiser about hearing loss and why she was inspired to become an audiologist.

New type of hearing aids are invisible - 10/09/2008
abclocal.go.com
The Lyric hearing aid is discussed.

UCLA's Coleman refuses to be stopped - 10/09/2008
ocregister.com
One football player continues to inspire those with hearing loss. He heavily relies on waterproof hearing aids to stay in the game.

Callier Program Recycles the Gift of Sound - 10/09/2008
utdallas.edu
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Although this adage has been around for decades, it is taking on a whole new meaning at the UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders.

Energizer to donate new batteries to nonprofit agency - 10/07/2008
rutlandherald.com
Energizer Battery is releasing what it describes as the world's first zero-added mercury hearing-aid batteries by donating a number of the batteries to Bennington Project Independence.