How Society Treats Hearing Loss

By ConsumerAffairs

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 3 of every 1,000 children are born with a detectable level of hearing loss, and around 30 million Americans over age 12 have disabling hearing loss. However, only about 20% of the people who could benefit from hearing aids use one.

By themselves, those statistics are unsettling. However, compared to the fact that 75% of U.S. adults use some sort of vision correction, they highlight the stark differences in how society treats hearing loss versus a similar disability like vision loss.

Price

According to the Better Hearing Institute, 68% of people with hearing loss cite finances as the main reason for not using hearing aids.

Availability

While glasses have been adopted as must-have fashion accessories for NBA players and presidential hopefuls alike, hearing aids are still lacking in aesthetic options.

Accommodations

Don't count on your favorite hotel or restaurant offering a pair of complimentary hearing aids if you leave yours at home.

At work and school

Untreated hearing loss is proven to affect children's attention and comprehension in classroom lectures, and adults with untreated hearing loss lose as much as $30,000 in salary and wages annually.

In social settings

Kids with hearing loss struggle in social situations, and their difficulty interacting or following along in conversation is often mistaken for aloofness.

In relationships

The say communication is the key to any good relationship, but communication can be challenging for hearing impared individuals, especially in a relationship with a person with normal hearing.

According to the World Health Organization, 360 million people worldwide are hearing disabled. Hearing loss is a major public health issue, the third most common after arthritis and heart disease. Yet because we can’t see hearing loss, only its effects, many mistake it as aloofness, confusion, or personality changes. To learn more about how hearing aids can help with hearing loss, and to find the one that’s right for you, check out ConsumerAffairs' Hearing Aids guide.

Receive updates on life-changing hearing research and resources by subscribing to HHF's free quarterly magazine and e-newsletter.

HHF Board of Directors Elects Elizabeth Keithley, Ph.D. as its new Board Chair

By Elizabeth Keithley, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Keithley, Ph.D., Chairman, HHF Board of Directors                                            Professor Emeritus, Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology

University of California at San Diego

I have been a scientist who does research on mechanisms of inflammation and aging on the inner ear for more than 30 years. Growing up with a mother who had a hearing loss, I understood of the impact that hearing loss can have on a person’s life. It was quite natural that while in college I became interested in neuroscience and specifically the study of sensory perception. A professor asked me to work in his lab on hearing mechanisms and I have been studying them ever since.

In the 1990s I was asked to review the Emerging Research Grant (ERG) applications and that began my association with Hearing Health Foundation (HHF, and formerly known as Deafness Research Foundation). Soon afterward I was asked to join the Board of Directors. I have remained on the Board since that time.

The ERG program is a very valuable asset for the research community by enabling early-stage researchers to get their careers started. This program allows them to write a proposal describing a series of experiments to test a hypothesis that will increase our understanding of auditory or vestibular (hearing or balance) mechanisms. With data generated during the ERG funding period, the researcher can write an expanded, plausible proposal to address a larger issue. This becomes a proposal for funding from the National Institutes of Health.

In some ways the ERG program is a “dress rehearsal” for a career as an academic scientist. When these scientists receive funding from HHF, they have the opportunity to develop their own ideas. They begin to have some independence from a more senior investigator. The best path to achieving a world where everyone can hear is to continue bringing new people with their innovative ideas into the field of hearing and balance research. A review of the names of HHF-funded researchers over the past half century reveals the American leaders in the fields of hearing and balance research from the mid-1980s on.

As of October 1, 2015, I am the Chair of the HHF Board. I am very pleased to be involved with this important organization. HHF was created almost 60 years ago by a woman who was steadfast in her support of funding for new technologies and treatments for hearing loss. I will do whatever I can to ensure we are able to continue to make a meaningful impact through hearing research. 

It is a goal to see HHF raise enough money to fund the Hearing Restoration Project. The consortium model is a wonderful way to focus the attention of scientists to work together collaboratively and get meaningful results. If we can get to the level of funding $5 million to $6 million for research annually, it will give the scientists the resources to further accelerate the pace of the research and produce advances to prevent, treat, and cure hearing loss. Another goal that is equally as important to me is to be able to return our funding levels for the ERG program to $1 million a year. This was the level of funding when I started 20 years ago and I don’t think it is unreasonable to recommit to that amount in the future.

Hearing and balance research and advancements in hearing devices and technology have come a long way over the past 50 years. Significant outcomes have been achieved, but we still have a lot of work to do. The number of people with hearing loss and other hearing-related conditions is increasing and we need to continue to fund the most cutting-edge research until there is a day when every person can enjoy life without a hearing loss or tinnitus.  

I am interested in getting to know the members of our Hearing Health community.  If you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email.  

I look forward to hearing from you.

Congratulations to Our Former Emerging Researchers

By Tara Guastella

The primary goal of our Emerging Research Grant (ERG) program is to prepare scientists new to hearing and balance research to earn funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is with that in mind that we are thrilled to congratulate the latest crop of ERG alumni who have received NIH support.

For the past 55 years, we have proudly provided thousands of hearing researchers with the seed funding to make it possible to compete successfully for NIH awards and further their research careers. With the tightening funding climate in Washington, it is truly a remarkable achievement to obtain these awards.

It is with great pleasure that we share:

2012 Emerging Researcher, Wei Min Chen, Ph.D., University of Virginia, received two awards from National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for work in complex genetics research identifying genetic predictors of certain diseases.

2012 Emerging Researcher, Sung Ho Huh, Ph.D., Washington University, received a National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) award studying cellular and molecular functions of cochlear development.

2012 & 2013 Emerging Researcher, Israt Jahan, M.B.B.S, Ph.D., University of Iowa, received a NIDCD award for her work in hair cell regeneration.

2011 & 2013 Emerging Researcher, Carolyn Ojano-Dirain, Ph.D., University of Florida, received a NIDCD award for her work in aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity.

2012 & 2013 Emerging Researcher, Lina Reiss, Ph.D., Orgeon Health & Science University, received a NIDCD award for her work in binaural hearing loss and hearing devices.

Isabelle Roux, Ph.D.

2012 Emerging Researcher, Isabelle Roux, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, received a NIDCD award for her research in hair cells and their interaction with nerve fibers that provide feedback from the brain to the ear.

2012 Emerging Researcher, Rebecca Seal, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, received two National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) awards for work studying the central nervous system.

2009 Emerging Researcher, Ruili Xie, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, received an award from the NIDCD for research on age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss.

We congratulate these researchers for their extraordinary research efforts and look forward to learning of their progress into the future.

Announcing the 2013 Emerging Research Grantees

By Tara Guastella

ERG Award Recipient

Alan Kan, Ph.D. of University of Wisconsin, Madison

We are excited to announce that 24 scientists from around the country have been awarded an Emerging Research Grant (ERG) for the 2013 funding cycle. Our grants are designed for researchers new to the field of hearing and balance science continuing a tradition which began over half a century ago.

The goal of the Emerging Research Grants program is to provide junior investigators seed funding so they can gather enough data and then move on to compete for funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH funding allows these researchers to further their careers, and the hearing research field, with longer, more sustained levels of funding.

We track the impact of our Emerging Researchers as they continue their work. Research that we have funded has led to dramatic innovations that increase options for those living with hearing loss as well as protecting those at risk. Many of our grants have led to today’s standard treatments such as cochlear implants, treatments for otitis media (ear infections), and surgical therapy for otosclerosis.

This year’s group of grantees are researching topics such as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), hair cell regeneration, Ménière’s disease, ototoxicity (or hearing loss that occurs from certain medications), tinnitus, and Usher syndrome. 

This year’s funding cycle marked one of the largest increases in qualified applications we received for this program. While interest in hearing and balance research continues to grow, this also made the grant review process and funding decisions even more challenging. “This year’s pool of applicants was the most competitive in our organization’s 55-year history,” says Peter S. Steyger, Ph.D., HHF’s scientific director. “I have never seen so many qualified applicants with truly exceptional research endeavors in my time at the HHF. Funding decisions were extremely difficult.”

One Emerging Researcher, Alan Kan, Ph.D. (pictured above), aims to close the gap in speech understanding performance between cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners. The primary outcome of his study will help determine whether the “better ear” strategy, attending to a target talker in the “better ear” withprocessing that separates the target talker’s speech from a noisy background, will provide a significant benefit for cochlear implant users. This work also has implications for those with CAPD and the ability to process sounds between ears. Dr. Kan is being funded by the Royal Arch Masons who support researchers studying CAPD. We thank them for their generous support.

Learn about the rest of the 2013 Emerging Research Grantees

Your donations help fund our Emerging Research Grants program, kickstarting the careers of the next generation of hearing research scientists. Thank you for helping us to prevent and cure hearing loss and tinnitus. Please make a donation today.

The NIH Faces Budget Cuts - and Needs Your Help!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled votes that will take place this week on two competing measures to provide funding for the rest of FY11.

One is the House-passed bill (H.R. 1), which cuts the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding by $1.6 billion.

The other is an alternative offered by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Daniel Inouye (D-HI), which maintains the NIH budget at the FY10 level.

Congress still needs to hear from you! Contact your senators immediately and ask them to support the NIH as an urgent national priority by voting "yes" on the continuing resolution proposed by the Senate Appropriations Committee and "no" on H.R. 1. A sample letter for your use is located at http://capwiz.com/jscpp/home/ should you choose to email your elected official.

To take action on the CLS CapWiz page, simply type your zip code in the box to your right. You will be automatically directed to a sample letter. You can edit the letter and send it to your elected officials right from this site. We also encourage you to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues.

Thank you in advance for your participation!