by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Smoking is bad for your health. Numerous studies have proven this. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that breathing secondhand smoke is also bad for your health. Again, studies have proven this. Now, a recent study by Dr. Anil Lalwani has shown that in addition to causing health problems and […]
Understanding the Difference Between Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and Hearing Level (HL) in Measuring Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © November, 2011. A student asked, What is the relationship between the SPL dB scale and HL dB scale? Good question. I’ll bet there are lots of hard of hearing people that are unclear about the differences between those two scales, and often treat these two terms as though they […]
People Born with Significant Hearing Loss Have Better Peripheral Vision Than Hearing People
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. If you’re like me and can’t hear much, I’m sure you’ll agree that it would be nice to have “eyes in the backs of our heads” to help compensate for our lack of hearing. God didn’t choose to give us this extra pair of eyes, but guess what? The latest research […]
Hearing Loss and Dementia—Should We Be Worried?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. October 12, 2011 A recent study on the effects of hearing loss and dementia is scaring a lot of hard of hearing people. For example one recent article opened with, “Older people with hearing loss are at a much greater risk for developing dementia over time than those who can […]
Human Hair Cell Regeneration Clinical Trial Using Stem Cells Begins
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Research into regenerating human hair cells in the inner ear, with the aim of restoring hearing, has been ongoing for a number of years. Researchers have been trying, with varying degrees of success, to get hair cells to regenerate in animals—but there are still many hurdles to overcome. Consequently, human trials […]
Watch Out! Cell Phone Use Can Damage Your Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. From time to time scientists have raised the question of cell (mobile) phone safety and how it may affect our brains since the antennas of cell phones are transmitting electromagnetic energy into our heads. In the past there have been concerns that cell phone usage may cause various kinds of brain […]
Service Animals Defined as Dogs Only
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gave disabled people the right to bring their service animals with them into public places and on public transportation. Unfortunately, this soon became abused as it didn’t take long before people were defining various animals as their service animal—so there were “service” pigs, monkeys, birds, […]
Secondhand Smoke Harms Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Smoking causes hearing loss in many smokers. That is nothing new. I have written about this for several years now. So maybe it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that researchers have now discovered that breathing secondhand smoke also harms hearing in non-smokers. Researchers divided 3,307 people between the ages of […]
Lack of Adequate Folate (Vitamin B9) Associated with High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Older Adults
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A recent study in elderly people revealed that blood serum folate levels significantly correlate with high-frequency hearing loss in people over 60 years old. (1) Lack of adequate folate levels seems to affect high-frequency hearing. (Incidentally, folate is the natural form, while folic acid is the synthetic form of Vitamin B9, […]
Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer Causes Increased Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A news item titled “Hearing Loss Common Following Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer” revealed the shocking fact that people having radiation to their heads or necks were 682% more likely to experience severe hearing loss as compared to those in the control group. (1) Thus if you want to […]
The Hearing Fix—Beneficial or Hoax?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked, I’ve come across a website that’s called The Hearing Fix. They say they have capsules (a herbal mix and so forth) that works really well at restoring hearing, money back guarantee, backed by university research. Do you know of such? Is such correct? You are not the first […]
Top Ten Nasty Noisy Toys for 2010 That Can Damage Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Loud sounds can cause hearing loss. This is no secret. So why do the toy manufacturers insist on making toys that produce ear-damaging levels of sound? Maybe more to the point, why do parents/grandparents buy such noisy toys for their children? Young children have especially sensitive ears and short arms. Thus, […]
As Your Kidneys Go, So Goes Your Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. For centuries, Chinese herbalists have proclaimed that your ears and your kidneys are “connected”. In other words, what affects your kidneys, also affects your ears (or maybe it is vice versa). This is nothing new. What is new is that modern medical science is finally realizing just how true this is. […]
Ten Questions Teens Ask About Hearing and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A high school teen wrote: Thank you for taking the time to answer 10 questions which I hope will enrich my knowledge on the subject of hearing loss in teenagers. I would love to learn some new information to not only better my understanding on the topic, but to better the […]
What Is a Mixed Hearing Loss?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: When an audiologist says you have a ‘mixed’ hearing loss, what exactly does he mean? Hearing loss basically comes in 4 “flavors”. First, there are conductive losses. Conductive losses comprise about 10% of all hearing losses. They are typically mechanical hearing losses in the outer and middle ear […]
Hearing Loss Following Strenuous Exercise
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A mother explained: My son has had a few bouts of tinnitus followed by a hearing drop in one ear. This always seems to be as a result of, or following, strenuous exercise. So far the ear has always recovered to its old level. I reported the last episode to my […]
Hair Cell Research—Some Unexpected Results
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Hard of hearing people are impatient for hair cell research to bring forth positive results so they can have their hearing restored to normal or near normal. That is their desire, but this reality is still far in the future. In spite of all the advances that have been made in […]
How Does Taking Out the Adenoids in Children Improve Their Hearing?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © December, 2009 A man explained: I am the father of a seven year old hard of hearing (moderate and profound) child. Recently he was diagnosed with enlarged adenoids and an Adenoidectomy was advised by the ENT. The Dr told me it would improve his hearing. My question is, […]
Survey on Quality of Life of Hard of Hearing Children in the USA
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Perhaps some of you might be interested in taking part in the below survey. Note: it is limited to children living in the USA. This survey comes from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. The study is looking for parents of children who are hard of hearing or deaf. Here’s […]
Hundreds of Genes Can Cause Deafness
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. From time to time the news media reports that scientists have identified yet another gene that causes deafness, and always there is the statement that this will help end hearing loss, as though a cure for hearing loss was right around the corner. Here’s an example of one that just came […]
