Nov. 17, 2011 -- Middle ear infections are common during early childhood, but the simple strategy of chewing gum with the sweetener xylitol just may be an effective way to help prevent them.

Based on their review of three studies of healthy children from Finland, researchers found that there is "fair evidence" to support the conclusion that kids who chew gum (More)
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Nov. 15, 2011 -- One in five Americans aged 12 and older has hearing loss that interferes with their ability to communicate, according to new research.

"It's a pretty shocking number," says study researcher Frank R. Lin, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University. The one in five, or about 48 million, have hearing loss in one or both (More)
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May 19, 2011 -- Swimmers often regard inflammation of the external ear canal, known as swimmer's ear, as an inevitable, minor nuisance. But a new study finds that the problem adds substantially to health care costs and the number of annual doctor visits.

"For swimmer's ear, there are 2.4 million health care visits and it costs half a billion dollars in health care (More)
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March 1, 2011 -- Almost two out of three U.S. adults age 70 or older have significant hearing loss, according to a new study.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say that 63% of 717 participants age 70 and over in their study had hearing loss, ranging from mild to severe.

But while 64% of white people in the study had hearing (More)
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Feb. 23, 2011 -- Certain heart disease risk factors, heredity, and having a noisy job are associated with hearing loss in middle-aged adults, a new study shows.

Researchers analyzed information on 3,285 people ranging in age from 21 to 84 (More)
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Feb. 14, 2011 -- Older adults who experience hearing loss may be at increased risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. And the risk of dementia likely increases as hearing loss worsens.

Those are among the major findings of a new study aimed at addressing possible solutions to the exploding problem of dementia, which is estimated will afflict 100 million people worldwide by the year 2050.

The researchers say that interventions that (More)
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Jan. 12, 2011 -- Young children with ear infections recover faster and more completely if doctors give antibiotics right away rather than waiting to see if the kids get better on their own.

The findings come from two clinical trials, one in the U.S. and one in Finland. For young children with middle ear infections -- (More)
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Jan. 6, 2011 -- Driving a convertible with the top down may seem like fun, but people who go 55 miles per hour or faster may be increasing the risk of hearing loss over time, new research indicates.

That's due in part to the noise of the wind, but also to extreme noise "spikes" heard when passing loud vehicles, such as a bus or motorcycle.

The study used noise level standards of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, which says (More)
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Nov. 16, 2010 -- The best treatment for many children with middle ear infections may be no treatment at all, a review of the research confirms.

The analysis found antibiotics to be "modestly" more effective than just treating symptoms with pain medication. But use of (More)
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Samuel R. Atcherson, PhD, was a toddler when his babysitter noticed he didn't respond to sound the way other kids do. He was diagnosed with mild hearing loss that progressed to severe hearing loss by the time he was in college.

"Growing up, I rarely used the phone, because I could not understand," Atcherson recalls. "This affected my social life considerably, and I certainly had moments of feeling isolated."

Atcherson used hearing aids, but still had (More)
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