Homeopathic treatment for ear infections is superior to antibiotic treatment and placebo
A recent meta-analysis of studies, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), looking at the use of antibiotics for ear infections vs. the watch and wait approach (no treatment) found that the treatment group improved slightly, but the improvements were offset by side effects such as rash and diarrhoea. This meta-analysis is […]
A Cure for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss?
Recent research into new drugs offers hope for people who have lost their hearing beause of exposure to loud noise. Going to rock concerts or working with heavy machinery are just two of the ways people may risk their hearing. Exposure to harmful noise may damage the hair cells in the inner ear, causing noise-induced […]
Noise-induced ‘hidden hearing loss’ mechanism discovered
In modern industrialised society, our ears are constantly bombarded by loud noises capable of doing permenent damage to the inner ear, and unfortunately, destroying delicate hair cells or nerve fibers without causing pain or providing any other obvious warning signs than occasionally ringing in the ears. For decades, noise-induced and age-related hearing loss research efforts […]
‘Bionic ear’ restores a person’s hearing for the first time
Scientists have used biobic ear technology to restore a person’s hearing for the first time. They use electrical pulses delivered from a cochlear implant to deliver gene therapy, thereby successfully regrowing auditory nerves. The research, published in the journal Science Translation Medicine, also heralds a possible new way of treating a range of neurological disorders, […]
Tests to see if asprin can combat hearing loss
Scientists in Hampshire have today lauched a new trail that could revolutionise the effts of chemotherapy for tens of thousands of people battling cancer. Southhampton civil servant Alan Fox is one of the 18,500 cancer patients who develop hearing problems each year during treatment. But scientists based in the city, working for Cancer Research UK, […]
Shouting at me: Why clear speech can sound angry
When loved ones lose their hearing, audiologists often counsel spouses and family members to speak cleary so they are better understood. But hearing loss professionals such as Shae D. Morgan, a PhD student at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, say that this well meaning advice can backfire: clear speech can make you […]
A Life Changing Experience
It’s a staggering fact that there are today more than 20 million US war veterans. Luckily they are well cared for by the Department of Veteran Affairs that runs the largest intergrated healthcare system in the US. Veteran Affairs (VA) was set up in 1930 to “consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans.” The […]
Could a hearing aid make you feel seven years younger?
A recent article in the Daily Mail claimed that getting a hearing aid could stop you from developing dementia. Professor David McAlpine, director of the University College London Ear Institute who wrote the article quoted research from a number of the studies in the USA. The studies seemed to show that people with an untreated […]
Acoustic Neuroma
The nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and all the connections these have withe the various tissues of the body. Most nerves in the body are connected first to the spinal cord, which runs through the space within each vertebra, and then to the brain. There are 12 paiirs of nerves […]
Nursing tool kit targets patients with hearing loss on wards
A new tool kit to help nurses improve hospital care for older patients with hearing loss is being launched this week, as part of a joint initiative between a charity and an acute trust in the Midlands. The set of measures are being launched by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and Action on Hearing […]
