Former Miss USA Shawnae Jebbia Shines with Siemens Pure

When Shawnae Jebbia won the Miss USA crown in 1998, it was the start of a fairytale career. She appeared at events throughout the world, worked as a model, and hosted her own fitness show. But Shawnae's world unexpectedly changed when she was diagnosed with hearing loss. After living a life full of traveling and adventure, she had a difficult time understanding and accepting the sudden hearing loss diagnosis she faced at just 27 years of age. Now, Shawnae wears Siemens Pure® 700 hearing instruments, which have completely changed her life for the better. Thanks to the sophisticated new hearing instruments and Shawnae's bright and optimistic attitude, she has become a remarkable and humble role model for people with hearing loss.

Shawnae Jebbia had a thriving career as an outgoing, energetic television personality when she began to notice changes in her hearing. At first Shawnae attributed the changes to her busy travel schedule and recurring allergies, until she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Meniere's disease, a condition that is characterized by fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus or ringing in the ears, and dizziness.

Shawnae found it difficult to keep up with the disease when she was first diagnosed, as she struggled to understand the condition and the steps that she needed to take to address it. But as a result of her diagnosis, Shawnae knew that the smart thing to do was to seek help from hearing instruments, a decision that she is grateful for to this day. Shawnae was fit with Siemens Pure 700 hearing instruments, which feature the most advanced hearing technology in an almost invisible, ultra-small platform.

"Pure is so tiny no one notices it. Not even me. Both personally and socially, it gives me the confidence to do what I want," Shawnae says. "Pure hides, so I can shine."

Siemens Pure hearing instruments are equipped with intuitive technology that reduces the volume for loud sounds while increasing it for soft sounds. Siemens revolutionary TruEar® technology stimulates the acoustical functions of the outer ear while separating sounds in front of the wearer from sounds behind the wearer. Pure includes e2e® technology, which wirelessly synchronizes both instruments so the wearer can localize sounds from left to right. Sound Brilliance™, another new technology, enhances the perception of high-pitched sounds to give the wearer a richer, fuller and more natural hearing experience.

Pure hearing instruments also feature FeedbackBlocker™to automatically eliminate feedback patterns, providing ultimate sound comfort. SoundSmoothing® reduces annoying sounds such as dishes clanging, without affecting speech. Shawnae's Pure 700 hearing instruments go even further with Siemens enhanced SoundLearning®, which not only remembers her volume preferences, but also learns her sound quaility preferences.

Shawnae has further enhanced her Pure 700 hearing instruments with the Siemens Tek® wireless system, which streams audio directly from televisions, cell phones and MP3 players into her Pure instruments using Bluetooth® wireless technology. Tek allows for phone signals to be transmitted to both ears, giving the hearing instrument wearer an advantage that other people do not have.

"Listening to the phone in both ears is amazing! And it was great to watch TV again without having to read subtitles," Shawnae says. "Tek has opened up new worlds for me. It's with me wherever I go."

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens is the only company to offer customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source - from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 49,000 employees worldwide and operates in over 130 countries. In fiscal year 2008 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.2 billion euros and profit of 1.2 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare or the Siemens web channel on Audiology Online.