Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Manitoba Chapter

Research conducted at the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health in Baltimore has found there are many more people with hearing loss than was previously thought.  Click here to read the full story posted on the CBC’s web site.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO) hearing loss is defined as not being unable to hear sounds of 25 decibels or less in speech frequencies.

A joint study conducted at West Texas A&M University has led researchers to a better understanding of tinnitus, and how it may be controlled.  To read about this exciting work click here.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) in the United States reports that researchers have proposed a new theory; that tinnitus may be the result of a breakdown between the brain’s limbric system and the auditory cortex.  Read their report “Tinnitus:  Is This What Happens When the Brain’s Gatekeeper Breaks Down?”  The NIDCD report at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/news/releases/11/Pages/031611.aspx includes additional links.

Designer Andrew Carr has developed a solar-powered hearing aid designed for use in developing nations. Click this link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/09/12/medical-inventions.html to read the September 12, 2011 CBC story about this and other innovative medical devices.

According to Professor Larry Roberts at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, describing tinnitus:  “… neurons are meant to talk to each other.  When the ear stops talking to them, usually because of hearing loss, they start talking to themselves and this in turn generates the ringing.“  Read this fascinating article on the Hear It web site about research into the cause of tinnitus.  Additional Hear It articles are available at http://www.hear-it.org/index.dsp