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Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

 

Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

Rupert Brown, an Isle of Wight musician, mixes nature sounds with music to create a soundscape that helps distract his brain from the tinnitus.

“The island is my orchestra,” says Brown in a BBC video, about his efforts to record waves crashing, birds twittering, and wind in the trees, which he then mixes in the studio with non-classical music and the sounds of what he believes are others’ type of tinnitus to form the soundscape.

To learn more, please click here.

Source: BBC

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Signia Launches Motion X Hearing Aids

Signia Launches Motion X Hearing Aids

 

Signia Launches Motion X Hearing Aids

Signia announced the launch of its newest lineup of Motion Charge&Go X hearing aids, which includes the Motion Charge&Go SP X – said to be the “first-ever rechargeable super power hearing aid that delivers uncompromised hearing with up to 61 hours of run-time per charge.” The Motion Charge&Go SP X, and its rechargeability, helps “ensure that even individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss can enhance their human performance through improved hearing in every situation.”

This joins two other all-new Motion hearing aids – Motion Charge&Go P X and Motion Charge&Go X – to complete Signia’s latest lineup of Motion Charge&Go behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing solutions that are said to address “all levels of hearing loss.”

“Those with moderate to severe hearing loss depend heavily on their hearing aids – and not just for catching the total at the grocery checkout line or the specials at a restaurant, but for the real connections and sounds that give life meaning,” said Dr Tish Ramirez, Signia’s Vice President of Professional Relations and Product Management. “Signia Motion X delivers industry-best rechargeability and connectivity to ensure wearers stay better connected to their world without any limitations. Motion X hearing aids don’t just provide better hearing, they help provide a better life.”

Motion Charge&Go SP X is said to have up to 61 hours per charge, according to Signia, and is “the world’s most powerful rechargeable hearing aid.” The Motion Charge&Go P X offers up to 30 hours per charge, while the Motion Charge&Go X offers up to 24 hours per charge.

Signia Motion Charge&Go X: A new era in hearing technology

Signa’s “first-of-its-kind acoustic-motion sensor technology” is said to recognize one’s movements and adjusts sounds accordingly to ensure hearing in any situation is as precise and personalized as possible. Signia’s world’s-first OVP is a cutting-edge technology that processes the wearer’s voice separately from other sounds, leading to higher user satisfaction with the sound of their own voice.[1]

The Signia app provides access to hearing aid controls, streaming capabilities, tinnitus therapy, the Signia Assistant for a more personalized listening experience, and 24/7 digital support, Signia Telecare for remote care support, Signia Face Mask Mode for better speech understanding through masks, and much more.

Furthermore, the Xperience fitting (XFit) strategy helps offer a choice between more linear and more compressive gain settings for those with moderate-to-profound hearing loss. With the Dynamic Soundscape Processing slider, the wearer can “easily find a preferred balance of sound for best performance.” Additionally, the AI-based Signia Assistant helps allow the wearer to be more involved in actively shaping the sound quality of their own hearing aid.

All three models of Motion Charge&Go X offer Li-ion charging, Bluetooth connectivity, and an optional telecoil. They are available in all performance levels and can be ordered with an optional charger upgrade that includes a UV Dry&Clean function.

“Signia has invested heavily in developing first-of-its-kind, industry-leading technologies – across rechargeability, connectivity, speech intelligibility, and more,” said Ramirez. “However, this investment has been made with the sole aim of creating hearing solutions that prove people don’t have to be limited by their hearing loss – and that with one’s hearing restored, there’s nothing holding them back from performing their best.”

For more information, visit: https://pro.signiausa.com/launch/.

[1] Powers T, Froehlich M, Branda E, Weber J. Clinical study shows significant benefit of own voice processing. Hearing Review. 2018;25(2):30-34.

Source: Signia

Images: Signia

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Oticon hearing aids

Oticon Launches Oticon More at 2021 OticonNext Event

  

Oticon Launches Oticon More at 2021 OticonNext Event

Oticon announced that over 5,000 hearing care professionals registered to join the company for its 2021 OticonNext “Discover More” Conference, the company’s “biggest ever launch event for a new product.” The live, virtual knowledge-sharing experience introduced participants to Oticon More, “the world’s first hearing aid with an on-board deep neural network.”  This new hearing aid is said to build on Oticon’s “proven BrainHearing approach to deliver a full and precisely balanced sound scene that makes it easier for the brain to perform optimally.” Oticon President Gary Rosenblum and Oticon staff experts showed conference participants how Oticon More represents a “fundamentally new approach” to signal processing.

Related article: Oticon Launches Oticon More Hearing Aid

“Through the OticonNext Conference, we aimed to equip practitioners with the knowledge and tools they need to continue to bring life-changing technology to patients,” said Rosenblum. “Over the past decade, Oticon has pioneered new standards and advanced its portfolio of hearing solutions dramatically. From our newest addition, Oticon More, to our innovative power and pediatric solutions, we continue to offer hearing care professionals and their patients one of the industry’s most comprehensive portfolios of hearing technology.”

Rosenblum shared recent honors for the new hearing solution with conference participants.  On January 11, the Consumer Electronics Association named Oticon More an honoree in the CES 2021 Innovation Awards in the Health & Wellness and Wearable Technologies categories. This is the fifth consecutive year that Oticon, Inc has been recognized by the international awards program that annually selects the best of the best in consumer electronics. The most recent awards bring to an even dozen the number of times Oticon has been honored by the CES InnovationAwards program.

Inspiration, Innovation, and Practice Support 

Keynote speaker Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, provided guidance on how technology like Oticon More contributes to health and long life by enabling patients to maintain vital connections to people and the world. A panel discussion addressed questions from the online audience on Oticon More’s technology innovations, including the new Polaris platform. Following the conference, hearing care professionals were invited to explore The Zone exhibit hall to learn more about the variety of clinical and business support available through Oticon and the company’s business partners.

Interactive Webisodes Continue Knowledge Sharing

The conference’s interactive virtual format extends beyond the launch event with a series of post-conference educational webisodes that build on the knowledge gained at OticonNext. The live interactive sessions take a deeper dive into the audiology of Oticon More and the new research that shows the brain needs access to all sounds—not just speech—in order to work in a natural way. Scheduled for February and March, the five webisodes each last approximately one hour and require prior registration.

Learn more about Oticon More and the entire portfolio of Oticon hearing solutions with BrainHearing technology at: www.Oticon.com/More.

Available at the Keynsham hearing centre

Source: Oticon

Images: Oticon

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New Drug Promises Relief from Tinnitus

New Drug Promises Relief from Tinnitus, Epilepsy

  

New Drug Promises Relief from Tinnitus, Epilepsy

Neurophysiologists at the University of Connecticut (UConn) have discovered a new drug that may prevent tinnitus and treat epilepsy by selectively affecting potassium channels in the brain. According to an article in the June 10, 2015 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, Anastasios V. Tzingounis, PhD, and colleagues say that both tinnitus and epilepsy are caused by overly excitable cells that flood the brain with an overload of signals that can lead to seizures (epilepsy) or phantom ringing in the ears (tinnitus).

The authors report that roughly 65 million people worldwide are affected by epilepsy. While exact statistics on tinnitus are not easy to determine, the American Tinnutus Association estimates that two million people in the US suffer from disabling tinnitus.

Anastasios V. Tzingounis, PhD

Anastasios V. Tzingounis, PhD, University of Connecticut

According to Tzingounis and co-authors, the existing drugs available to treat epilepsy don’t always work and can have serious side effects. One of the more effective drugs, retigabine, helps open KCNQ potassium channels, which serve as the “brakes” that shut down the signaling of overly excited nerves. Retigabine, however, has terrible side effects and is usually only given to adults who don’t get relief from other epilepsy drugs. The side effects of retigabine include sleepiness, dizziness, problems with hearing and urination, and a disturbing tendency to turn patients’ skin and eyes blue.

In 2013, Tzingounis began collaborating with Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, a tinnitus expert at the University of Pittsburgh, to create a new drug candidate. The new drug, SF0034, was chemically identical to retigabine, but included an extra fluorine atom. Originally developed by SciFluor, the company wanted to know whether the compound had promise for treating epilepsy and tinnitus.

Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD,

Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Tzingounis and Tzounopoulos thought the drug had the potential to be much better than retigabine in treating both conditions. They first had to determine if SF0034 worked on KCNQ potassium channels the same way retigabine does, and if so, if it would be better or worse.

The co-authors explain in their article that KCNQ potassium channels are found in the initial segment of axons, long nerve fibers that reach out and almost touch other cells. The gap between the axon and the other cell is called a synapse. When the cell wants to signal to the axon, it floods the synapse with sodium ions to create an electrical potential. When that electrical potential goes on too long, or gets overactive, the KCNQ potassium channel kicks in. The result is that it opens, potassium ions flood out, and the sodium-induced electrical potential shuts down.

In some types of epilepsy, the KCNQ potassium channels have trouble opening and shutting down runaway electrical potentials in the nerve synapse. Retigabine helps them open. According to the authors, there are five different kinds of KCNQ potassium channels in the body, but only two are important in epilepsy and tinnitus: KCNQ2 and KCNQ3. The problem with retigabine is that it acts on other KCNQ potassium channels as well. That’s why it has so many unwanted side effects.

When testing SF0034 in neurons, the researchers found that it was more selective than retigabine. It appeared to open only KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 potassium channels, and to not affect the KCNQ 4 or 5 potassium channels. The research showed that SF0034 was more effective than retigabine at preventing seizures in animals, and it was also less toxic.

The results are promising, and SciFluor plans to start FDA trials with SF0034 to test its safety and efficacy in people. Treating epilepsy is the primary goal, but treating or preventing tinnitus is a secondary goal.

Source: UConn; Medical News Today

Photo credits: University of Connecticut; University of Pittsburgh; © Skypixel | Dreamstime.com

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New Technology Can Measure Tinnitus

New Technology Can Measure Tinnitus

  

New Technology Can Measure Tinnitus

A technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can be used to objectively measure tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, according to a new study published November 18 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE by Mehrnaz Shoushtarian of The Bionics Institute, Australia, and colleagues. A summary of the study was published on the Science Daily website.

Tinnitus, the perception of a high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears, affects up to 20% of adults and, when severe, is associated with depression, cognitive dysfunction, and stress. Despite its wide prevalence, there has been no clinically used, objective way to determine the presence or severity of tinnitus.

In the new study, researchers turned to fNIRS, a non-invasive and non-radioactive imaging method which measures changes in blood oxygen levels within brain tissue. The team used fNIRS to track activity in areas of the brain’s cortex previously linked to tinnitus. They collected fNIRS data in the resting state and in response to auditory and visual stimuli in 25 people with chronic tinnitus and 21 controls matched for age and hearing loss. Participants also rated the severity of their tinnitus using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory.

fNIRS revealed a statistically significant difference in the connectivity between areas of the brain in people with and without tinnitus. Moreover, the brain’s response to both visual and auditory stimuli was dampened among patients with tinnitus. When a machine learning approach was applied to the data, a program could differentiate patients with slight/mild tinnitus from those with moderate/severe tinnitus with an 87.32% accuracy. The authors conclude that fNIRS may be a feasible way to objectively assess tinnitus to assess new treatments or monitor the effectiveness of a patient’s treatment program.

The authors add: “Much like the sensation itself, how severe an individual’s tinnitus is has previously only been known to the person experiencing the condition. We have combined machine learning and non-invasive brain imaging to quantify the severity of tinnitus. Our ability to track the complex changes that tinnitus triggers in a sufferer’s brain is critical for the development of new treatments.”

Original Paper: Shoushtarian M, Alizadehsani R, Khosravi A, et al. Objective measurement of tinnitus using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. PLoS ONE. 2020;15(11): e0241695.

Source: PLoS ONE, Science Daily

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Hearing Speech Requires Quiet

Hearing Speech Requires Quiet—In More Ways than One

   

Hearing Speech Requires Quiet—In More Ways than One

 

A very interesting paper by:

 Kim Krieger, Research Writer, University of Connecticut

Perceiving speech requires quieting certain types of brain cells, report a team of researchers from UConn Health and University of Rochester in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their research reveals a previously unknown population of brain cells, and opens up a new way of understanding how the brain hears, according to an article on the UConn Today website.

Your brain is never silent. Brain cells, known as neurons, constantly chatter. When a neuron gets excited, it fires up and chatters louder. Following the analogy further, a neuron at maximum excitement could be said to shout. When a friend says your name, your ears signal cells in the middle of the brain. Those cells are attuned to something called the amplitude modulation frequency. That’s the frequency at which the amplitude, or volume, of the sound changes over time.

Amplitude modulation is very important to human speech. It carries a lot of the meaning. If the amplitude modulation patterns are muffled, speech becomes much harder to understand. Researchers have known there are groups of neurons keenly attuned to specific frequency ranges of amplitude modulation; such a group of neurons might focus on sounds with amplitude modulation frequencies around 32 Hertz (Hz), or 64 Hz, or 128 Hz, or some other frequencies within the range of human hearing. But many previous studies of the brain had shown that populations of neurons exposed to specific amplitude modulated sounds would get excited in seemingly disorganised patterns. The responses could seem like a raucous jumble, not the organized and predictable patterns you would expect if the theory, of specific neurons attuned to specific amplitude modulation frequencies, was the whole story.

Related article: Psychoacoustics: Auditory Perception in Normal and Impaired Hearing: Interview with Jennifer Lentz, PhD

UConn Health neuroscientists Duck O. Kim and Shigeyuki Kuwada passionately wanted to figure out the real story. Kuwada had made many contributions to science’s understanding of binaural (two-eared) hearing, beginning in the 1970s. Binaural hearing is essential to how we localise where a sound is coming from. Kuwada (or Shig, as his colleagues called him) and Kim, both professors in the School of Medicine, began collaborating in 2005 on how neural processing of amplitude modulation influences the way we recognise speech. They had a lot of experience studying individual neurons in the brain, and, together with Laurel Carney at the University of Rochester, they came up with an ambitious plan: they would systematically probe how every single neuron in a specific part of the brain reacted to a certain sound when that sound was amplitude modulated, and when it was not. They studied isolated single-neuron responses of 105 neurons in the inferior colliculus (a part of the brainstem) and 30 neurons in the medial geniculate body (a part of the thalamus) of rabbits. The study took them two hours a day, every day, over a period of years to get the data they needed.

While they were writing up their results, Shig became ill with cancer. But still he persisted in the research. And after years of painstaking measurement, all three of the researchers were amazed at the results of their analysis: there was a hitherto unknown population of neurons that did the exact opposite of what the conventional wisdom predicted. Instead of getting excited when they heard certain amplitude modulated frequencies, they quieted down. The more the sound was amplitude modulated in a specific modulation frequency, the quieter they got.

It was particularly intriguing because the visual system of the brain has long been understood to operate in a similar way. One population of visual neurons (called the “ON” neurons) gets excited by certain visual stimuli while, at the same time, another population of neurons (called the “OFF” neurons) gets suppressed.

Last year, when Shig was dying, Kim made him a promise.

“In the final days of Shig, I indicated to him and his family that I will put my full effort toward having our joint research results published. I feel relieved now that it is accomplished,” Kim says. The new findings could be particularly helpful for people who have lost their ability to hear and understand spoken words. If they can be offered therapy with an implant that stimulates brain cells directly, it could try to match the natural behavior of the hearing brain.

“It should not excite every neuron; it should try to match how the brain responds to sounds, with some neurons excited and others suppressed,” Kim says.

The research was funding by the National Institutes of Health.

Original Paper: Kim DO, Carney LH, Kuwada S. Amplitude modulation transfer functions reveal opposing populations within both the inferior colliculus and medial geniculate body. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00279.2020.

Source: UConn Today, Journal of Neurophysiology

Image: UConn Today, Duck Kim

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Traffic Noise May Impact Weight Gain

Traffic Noise May Impact Weight Gain

 

Traffic Noise May Impact Weight Gain, Researchers Find

Transport noise is a major problem in Europe, with over 100 million people living in areas where road traffic noise exceeds levels greater than 55dB, the health-based threshold set by the EU. A new study by the University of Oxford and the University of Leicester has found a connection between traffic noise and obesity. Long-term exposure to road traffic noise, such as living near a motorway or on a busy road, was associated with an increase in body mass index and waist circumference, which are key markers of obesity, according to an announcement on Oxford’s website. The study was published in the journal Environmental Research.

“While modest, the data revealed an association between those living in high traffic-noise areas and obesity, at around a 2% increase in obesity prevalence for every 10dB of added noise,” said lead author Dr Samuel Yutong Cai, a senior epidemiologist at the University of Oxford. “The association persisted even when we accounted for a wide range of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and diet, as well as when taking into account socioeconomic status of both individuals and the overall area. Air pollution was also accounted for, especially those related to traffic.”

This is the “largest study to-date on noise and obesity,” looking at data on over 500,000 people from three European biobanks in the UK, Norway, and the Netherlands. Links between noise and weight were found in the UK and Norway, but not the Netherlands cohort. While the study is unable to confirm a causal relationship, the results echo those from a number of previous studies conducted in other European countries.

“It is well-known that unwanted noise can affect quality of life and disturb sleep,” said co-author Professor Anna Hansell, director of the University of Leicester’s Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability. “Recent studies have raised concerns that it also may influence general health, with some studies suggesting links to heart attacks and diabetes. Road traffic noise may increase stress levels, which can result in putting on weight, especially around the waist.”

“On the individual level, sticking to a healthy lifestyle remains a top strategy to prevent obesity,” said Cai.“However, at the population level, these results could have some policy implications. Environmental policies that target reducing traffic noise exposure may help tackle many health problems, including obesity.”

Led by Hansell, work is ongoing to investigate other sources of noise in the UK, such as aircraft noise, and its effect on health outcomes. In the future, long-term follow-up studies would be valuable in providing more information on how the relationship between noise and weight functions.

“As we emerge and recover from COVID-19, we would encourage the government to look at policies that could manage traffic better and make our public spaces safer, cleaner, and quieter,” said Cai. “Air pollution is already a well-known health risk, but we now have increasing evidence that traffic noise is an equally important public health problem. The UK should take this opportunity to think about how we can, as a society, reorganize cities and communities to support our health and reap better health outcomes across the whole population.”

Original Paper: Cai Y, Zijlema WL, Sorgjerd EP, et al. Impact of road traffic noise on obesity measures: observational study of three European cohorts. Environmental Research. 2020;110013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110013

Source: Oxford University, Environmental Research

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University of Auckland to Study Chatbot Technology for Potential Tinnitus Therapy

 

Keysham hearing centre Bristol

Chatbot technology that offers therapy for tinnitus sufferers via a mobile device such as a smartphone will be trialed at the University of Auckland, according to an announcement on the school’s website.

Researchers are recruiting participants for the “Tinnibot” study which is aimed at helping those who suffer from a hearing disorder that affects around one in ten New Zealanders and more than 700 million people worldwide.

Tinnitus is usually experienced as a ringing in the ears but sufferers report a range of noises including buzzing, clicking, and even the sound of cicadas. Severity varies: sounds can be continuous or intermittent but the condition is linked to serious mental health effects including depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Currently there is no cure.

But as online technologies and devices such as smartphones change the way health care is delivered, Dr Fabrice Bardy from the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology says it has created new opportunities to treat tinnitus and to study which treatments work best.

Dr Fabrice Bardy

Tinnibot is a chatbot program which uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), proven to be effective in the treatment of tinnitus but usually only available through one-on-one sessions which can be expensive and involve long wait times.

The chatbot’s software interface delivers CBT designed for an individual’s needs directly to their mobile, conducting an automated and interactive text conversation designed to help people regulate their thoughts by focusing on positive thoughts and challenging negative ones.

The interface incorporates a sound therapy library which has proved to be effective tinnitus therapy, particularly for those who have trouble sleeping. It works by using noise at just the right volume to drown out the sounds tinnitus can produce.

Keynsham hearing centre

Dr Bardy describes Tinnibot to be like having a tinnitus expert in your pocket.

“This chatbot interface is the first one designed specifically for the treatment of tinnitus, a tool that offers direct therapy and support which is convenient and affordable,” he said. “It will help people better understand their condition and to manage symptoms, give them a sense of being in control, and a confidence boost because that’s an important part of successful treatment.”

Participants in the research will be split into two cohorts with one using Tinnibot only and the other using Tinnibot as well as video counseling with a psychologist. The aim is to see which treatment is more effective.

If you have been bothered with tinnitus for over three months and if you are interested in participating in the study, contact Dr Bardy for more information.

Source: University of Auckland

Image: University of Auckland

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Oticon Launches Ruby Hearing Aid for Budget-Conscious Patients

Oticon Launches Ruby Hearing Aid for Budget-Conscious Patients

 

Oticon Launches Ruby Hearing Aid for Budget-Conscious Patients

For consumers returning to work and social activities in an uncertain economic climate, the newest addition to Oticon’s line of technology offers a combination of “sound quality, sought-after features, and affordability,” according to an announcement from the company.  The new Oticon Ruby “sets a new standard in the essential category, delivering great sound quality, hassle-free rechargeability, and easy wireless connectivity in one complete solution—all within the reach of today’s budget-conscious patients.”

Powered by the Velox S platform, Oticon Ruby introduces the new SuperShield feedback management system that “helps prevent feedback before it occurs, so patients can enjoy hearing without interruptions from unwanted whistling and squealing.” For patients who want the convenience of rechargeable batteries, a new lithium-ion rechargeable option helps provide a full-day’s* charge in a few hours. Bluetooth connectivity helps enable patients to connect to smartphones and other modern devices to stream audio and music directly to their hearing aids.

“After experiencing this time of social distancing, consumers recognise the value of easy access to modern technologies to stay connected with family, friends, and business colleagues,” said Don Schum, PhD, Vice President of Audiology for Oticon, Inc.  “Phone calls, video chats, and other virtual connections have become their lifeline to the world. These connections are enhanced with better hearing. At the same time, despite the start of an economic recovery, some patients may be more careful about spending. Oticon Ruby allows practitioners to offer patients looking for sought-after features, like rechargeability and easy wireless connections, a quality solution at a more affordable price.”

Like all Oticon wireless hearing aids, Oticon Ruby is compatible with Oticon RemoteCare, a new telehealth solution that allows hearing care professionals to follow up online with patients to remotely adjust and fine-tune hearing aids in a virtual appointment. For select patients who have valid audiograms, first fit with Oticon RemoteCare allows hearing care professionals to fit new hearing aids remotely.

Bath hearing centre 

Oticon Ruby and all Oticon hearing aids use BrainHearing technology to “help support the brain in making sense of sound and enable patients to participate in challenging listening environments.” The Velox S platform powers the new SuperShield technology to analyse incoming sound levels, identify feedback, and prevent whistling before it occurs.

Oticon Ruby miniRITE R rechargeable hearing aids offer a full day* of power with an overnight charge. The charger helps provide a stable, reliable magnetic connection for charging that delivers power throughout the day, including streaming, with a three-hour charging time. A 30-minute recharge provides an additional six hours of power, according to Oticon.

With 2.4 GHz Bluetooth low-energy technology, Oticon Ruby helps deliver “easy wireless connectivity with low battery consumption to a wide range of devices such as smartphones, audio or music streams in stereo to both hearing aids from Bluetooth-connected mobile phones, MP3 players, PCs, and more.” Patients can pair Oticon Ruby with multiple TV Adapters and use the Oticon ON App to stream from any TV. The Oticon ON App also lets patients adjust volume, switch settings, check battery level, and access features such as Find My Hearing Aid and Oticon HearingFitness.

Keynsham ear wax removal

Oticon Ruby is available in a full lineup of styles, including miniRITE, miniRITE T (telecoil), miniRITE R (rechargeable), BTE and BTE Power Plus, and five popular colours. Oticon Ruby is compatible with Oticon CROS hearing aids.

For more information on Oticon Ruby visit: www.Oticon.com/Ruby.

*Lithium-ion performance varies depending on hearing loss, lifestyle, and streaming behaviour

Source: Oticon

Image: Oticon

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Researchers Look at Potential Link between Coronavirus and Hearing Loss

Researchers Look at Potential Link between Coronavirus and Hearing Loss

 

Researchers Look at Potential Link between Coronavirus and Hearing Loss

An article in The Conversation—a network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories written by academics and researchers—provides a systematic review of the literature around COVID-19 and hearing loss.

The authors point out that coronaviruses, in some cases, can cause peripheral neuropathy, and, ”in theory..COVID-19 could cause auditory neuropathy, a hearing disorder where the cochlea is functioning but transmission along the auditory nerve to the brain is impaired.” Further, they say, auditory neuropathy has been linked with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is associated with COVID-19.

There is no conclusive link between hearing loss and COVID-19 at this time, but the authors stress the need to continue researching and monitoring any potential outcome.

To read the entire article, please click here.

Source: The Conversation

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