08.21.2010
A Los Angeles Times article from Wednesday, August 18, 2010, reports a story that finds today’s teens are losing their hearing at an alarming rate. About 20% of today’s teens have at least a slight hearing loss and over the last 15 years, this has increased 30%. The percentage of those with mild or worse hearing loss over the same time period has gone up 77%.
Some interesting facts:
1. In English, the letters “s,” “f,” “th,” and “sh” are soft-frequency sounds that are important sounds in our language but are the first ones to go when hearing loss occurs (meaning you won't hear them).
2. Factors such as genetics, certain medications, head trauma, extremely loud noises or already preexisting conditions of hearing loss can all contribute to a deeper loss.
3. Children with light blue eyes are more likely to have hearing loss than those with other eye colors.
4. If parents have hearing loss, they’re less likely to get a better job increasing chances of their kid(s) living in poverty. Also, poor people are more likely to not get ear infections treated which can damage hearing.
5. Once damage is done, it’s irreversible. Turn down the volume on iPods and mp3 players. Protect your ears at concerts or other places where you’ll experience loud noise for extended periods of time.
As the Jamba Juice slogan says: Your body is your temple. Cherish it.
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