IN THIS ISSUE:

Research
- Two Hearing Aids: Maybe Not for Everyone
- Acoustic Neuromas Linked to Noise
- Atonal Therapy for Hearing Loss
- Study on Earphones on Noise Exposure

News Items
- Auditory-Verbal International Dissolves, Joins AG Bell
- University of Maine Offers Captioned Interactive TV Course
- New Fairfax County Policy on Lost Service Animals
- Hearing Aid That's Cool with School

Two Hearing Aids: Maybe Not for Everyone

A cover story by Judith Nemes in the February 2006 issue of The Hearing Journal discussed recent research by audiologists Dr. Therese C. Walden and Dr. Brian E. Walden at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.  The Waldens have found that 78% of patients they tested for speech recognition in background noise scored better with one hearing aid rather than two. Their research flies in the face of more than 30 years of research showing the advantages of two hearing aids.
 
Nemes notes that it's generally agreed that for certain patients two hearing aids are not optimal.  An examples is when one ear is too sensitive to sound to allow for amplification.  Another is when hearing loss in one ear is too severe to benefit from a second hearing aid.
 
One finding of the Waldens' study was a tendency for amplification from two hearing aids to pose more problems for older patients.  Their study got its impetus when they noticed that some of their patients removed one or both hearing aids in louder, noisy situations despite being instructed to wear two hearing aids.
 
The Waldens suggest that with two hearing aids, conflicting information may be sent to each ear.  They also hypothesize that when both ears are aided, the input from the poorer ear may interfere with the processing of input to the better ear, rather that the better ear overriding interference from the poorer one.   The patients in their study also generally had better speech recognition in noise in the right ear.
 
Other researchers who have examined the Waldens' study results have asked questions about the findings.  Dr. Mead Killion, whose research with Dr. King Chung in 1999 found that two hearing aids performed better in noisy real-world situations, hypothesizes that the Waldens' results might be different because of their research subjects.  These subjects were army personnel who may have had extensive exposure to gunfire, with different types of hearing loss than what one would expect from their audiograms.  He believes that the Waldens' results give an opportunity.  "Anytime you don't understand something, it's a chance to learn," he said.
 
Another researcher, Dr. Todd RIcketts, has pointed out that the speech level the Waldens used for their testing was equivalent to shouted speech at about 83 dB, and that two hearing aids might have shown more advantages at lower levels.
 
Robyn Cox, who is professor of audiology and director of the Hearing Aid Research Laboratory at the University of Memphis, found in a survey over recent years that about 20% of individuals who have two hearing aids reported that they regularly wear only one.  She has funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that may shed more light on the subject.
 
Concerns have been raised that insurers may jump to conclusions and use the results of these preliminary studies to refuse payment for two hearing aids.  Dr, Dennis Van Vliet, vice president of professional services for HearUSA and founder and leader of the Independent Hearing Aid Fitting Forum says, "We fought for so long on the patients' behalf to get coverage of two hearing aids, we'd hate to see insurers disallow a second hearing aid."

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Acoustic Neuromas Linked to Noise

Acoustic neuromas are non-cancerous growths that can cause hearing loss.  Colin Edwards and Judith Schwartzbaum of Ohio State University School of Public Health and Stephan Loenn, Anders Ahlbom and Maria Feychting of the Division of Epidemiology at the Carolinska Institute of Stockholm have published a study showing a link between excessive noise and incidence of these neuromas.
 
The researchers found that people repeatedly exposed to loud noise over several years were on average 50% more likely to develop an acoustic neuroma than those not exposed to such noise.  Subjects with tumors were found to be most likely to have been exposed to loud music, followed by exposure to noise from machines, power tools and/or construction.
 
The acoustic neuroma rate increased with the duration of exposure to loud noise.  After only 5 years of exposure, the incidence of tumor was one and a half times that of those who did not have exposure.  The researchers also found that subjects who used ear protection when exposed to loud noise had an acoustic neuroma rate similar to that of subjects not regularly exposed to loud noise over an extended period of time.

(Thanks to Hearing Journal, 2/06)

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Atonal Therapy for Hearing Loss

GenVec, a company located in Gaithersburg, MD, is developing a product called TheraToh to restore hearing or balance function through regeneration of the hair cells of the inner ear.  It's based on work by Dr. Huda Zoghbi of Baylor College of Medicine, who reported that the ATOH gene was responsible for the inner ear hair cell development in mice.  TheraToh is an adenovector product that delivers the human atonal gene (Hath1) to trigger the production of therapeutic proteins by cells of the inner ear.  Note:  GenTech's web page uses two spellings for the product -- TheraToh and TherAtoH.
 
http://www.genvec.com/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=120

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Study on Earphones on Noise Exposure

The first study to quantify noise exposure from personal earphones on a large sample of listeners is being conducted through a collaboration by Dr. Mead Killion of Etymotic Research with Dr. Terri Ives of the School of Audiology at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and Dr. Brian Fligor of Children's Hospital in Boston.  They are testing 100 young adults to determine the individual levels and typical range of exposure of noise they receive daily through tiny microphones placed in the ear canal to measure the subjects' preferred listening levels. 
 
A press release notes that many listeners turn up the volume on their players to overcome noise in their surroundings.  Conventional headphones may not block out enough noisefor the listener to hear clearly without turning the volume up an unsafe level. The best earphones allow only enough noise to permit the user to listen at a lower level.

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Auditory-Verbal International Dissolves, Joins AG Bell

In December 2005, Auditory-Verbal International, Inc.(AVI) members voted to dissolve their organization and integrate with the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 
 
AG Bell has launched the Academy for Listening and Spoken Language to develop and manage certification programs for teachers and professionals providing services to deaf or hard of hearing children and adults.  This academy will offer the Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist(R) designation that was developed and previously provided by AVI.
 
For more info: www.agbell.org

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University of Maine Offers Captioned Interactive TV Course

The University College at the University of Maine-Augusta recently offered the first statewide captioned interactive TV course in Maine.  A psychology course, it began on January 19, 2006 over the ITV network.  It is the first statewide interactive television course using captioning for any student who might benefit from additional text information.  University College may extend captioning to additional general education courses if student surveys show it has been successful.
 
For more information:  Barbara Keefe at Barbara.Keefe@gbsd.org

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New Fairfax County Policy on Lost Service Animals

As of November 9, 2005, the Animal Services Division policy on lost service animals was finalized. If a resident calls in to get assistance finding a lost service animal, every effort will be taken to find and return the service animal.

(Thanks to Disability Services Planning & Development)

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Hearing Aid That's Cool with School

From an article by Sarah Walters in the Manchester Eveing News in Manchester, U.K. on 4/11//06

Youngsters with hearing difficulties are being given help to beat the bullies by fictional secondary school Grange Hill.

Starkey Laboratories, a hearing aid manufacturer based in Stockport, has been given permission to include logos and pictures of characters from the children's drama series in the earpiece of their hearing aids.

The group has previously being granted the right to use other BBC characters in their earmoulds, including the Tweenies, the Teletubbies, Tracey Beaker and Noddy.

The unique non-profit making scheme, dubbed the Better Hearing Initiative, began in 2000 when Manchester United signed up to allow Starkey to use its famous crest.

A number of publications, companies and sports clubs - such as Mr Men, Clinton Cards and the Premiership - have joined the initiative, which is aimed at encouraging children to be brave about their condition and proud to wear their hearing aids.

Grange Hill

Starkey won the support of Grange Hill after the TV programme's producers sought advice from the firm about the show's latest character, a hearing impaired student called Holly Parsons, and Starkey provided suitable equipment.

The firm believes that the fashionable hearing aids could help around 21,500 deaf and hard of hearing school children in the UK who may feel stigmatised by their condition.

Starkey has moved away from the traditional brown plastic hearing aid in favour of fun colours and the latest technology, including one aid with built-in bluetooth device that allows children to answer their mobile phones with their hearing aid.

Vice president of European operations, Michael Nolan, said: "It is vital that Starkey Laboratories gains support from all avenues.

"So far, we have been lucky and we thank all the companies that have given permission."

Logos

Requests for certain characters and logos are led by the children who wear the hearing aids.

Increasingly, Starkey is asked for characters from Hollywood blockbusters and is keen to get major international entertainment companies on board.

Mr Nolan adds: "Feedback from parents of hearing impaired children reinforces that having a popular character or image in an earmould can help children show that they are proud of their 'cool' hearing instruments.

"The images encourage all children to take an interest, start conversations and form friendships."

© Copyright 2006 Manchester Evening News

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©2006 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030; www.nvrc.org.  Items in this newsletter are provided for information purposes only; NVRC does not endorse products or services. You do not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to credit NVRC.  This news service is free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated.  To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your email address, or report a problem receiving the news, send an email to cheppner@nvrc.org