Consumer

Veterans and Hearing Loss

“We treat hearing loss as an inevitable cost of war. It shouldn’t be.” An article published in Washington Post highlights the fact that among male veterans seeking VA care, 16.4 percent to 26.6 percent suffer from serious hearing loss and tinnitus, and 7.3 percent to 13.4 percent of female veterans are affected. How much of this is combat-related or due to environmental factors such as background noise, training, and medication is unknown.

Minnesota’s Zack LaVine Gives Back to Hard-of-Hearing Community

With all the attention focused on greed and selfishness among pro athletes these days, it’s nice to see one that is positive and addresses the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Zack LaVine, who won the NBA’s slam dunk contest during the NBA All-Star Game last month, has donated time and money to the Metro School for the Deaf in St. Paul.

Vaping and Hearing Loss

Opinion Editorial by David Fabry, PhD

Nasal Decongestants and Air Travel

Lundy (2015) reports that Ovari and colleagues assembled a prospective, non-randomized study at a tertiary referral center, to evaluate nasal decongestants based on xylometazoline (similar to oxymetazoline) that may be found in Afrin® Nasal Spray, Anefrin® Nasal Spray, Dristan® Nasal Spray, Mucinex® Nasal Spray, Nostrilla® Nasal Spray, Vicks Sinex® Nasal Spray.

Real-Ear Measures: Status Quo 2015

Sanders et al (2015) report that not only are real-ear measures (REMs) an important part of all hearing aid best practice guidelines, REMs are simply a necessary part of each fitting. They note, as a result of acquiring REMs, it is likely “considerable subsequent adjustments” would need to be made to bring the hearing aid fitting into compliance with the prescription selected, such as NAL-NL2 or DSL v5.0.

Pediatric Audiology Links to Services (EHDI-PALS)

Early Hearing Detection & Intervention—Pediatric Audiology Links to Services (EHDI-PALS), is a Web-based link to information, resources, and services for children with hearing loss. At the heart of EHDI-PALS is a national web-based directory of facilities that offer pediatric audiology services to young children who are younger than five years of age. Since November 2012 the EHDI-PALS Web site been viewed 75,000 times.

Unscheduled Changes in Audiology, Internet Sales, and Direct Mail: Interview with Kim Cavitt, AuD

Douglas L. Beck, AuD, spoke with Dr. Cavitt about over-the-counter hearing aids, multiple revenue streams, bundling and un-bundling, and more.

Academy: Good morning, Kim. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation at the January 2014 Illinois Academy of Audiology (IAA) meeting.

Cavitt: Thanks, Doug. The IAA is always a powerful meeting, and I was honored to share my thoughts and ideas with the participants.

Telecom Accessibility Bill 2008

The Internet continues to rapidly change the way we communicate. To assure disabled people have equal access to innovative broadband-based Internet technologies, Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, and Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) have co-sponsored the new 21^st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which amends the Communications Act and closes gaps in previous legislation.

Greater Satisfaction When Companions Participate

The spouse (i.e., significant other, primary communication partner, etc. ) of the hearing impaired patient is enormously important with regard to audiometric diagnostics and the entire aural rehabilitation process.

Hybrids: Too Quiet for Safety?

Sarah Simpson (2008) noted that hybrids are "delightfully quiet." However, as many pedestrians depend on some level of anticipated car noises (motors, tires, engines) to warn them about oncoming multi-ton vehicles, particularly when crossing city streets, Simpson questioned whether being too quiet might be dangerous.