Can You Hear Me Now? Why Men Might Not

(WebMD)  Hearing loss among American adults may be more common than previously thought.

A new study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, estimates about 29 million American adults, or one out of six, have speech frequency hearing loss, which affects people's overall ability to hear speech. The study also estimates that 55 million Americans have high-frequency hearing loss.

Men were five times more likely than women to be hearing impaired. Blacks were 70% less likely than whites to be hearing impaired. White and Mexican-American men ranging in age from 20 to 39 had the greatest prevalence of high-frequency hearing loss and hearing loss in both ears.

The study examined data from a national survey, which included hearing tests, given to 5,742 Americans aged 20 to 69 from 1999 to 2004.

"Increases in hearing loss prevalence occurred earlier among participants with smoking, noise exposure, and cardiovascular risks," wrote Yuri Agrawal, of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and colleagues.

The frequency of hearing loss has soared because of the growing number of elderly people and the rising use of personal listening devices, such as headsets, the researchers write. But because hearing loss can limit a person's ability to communicate clearly and connect socially, in turn negatively affecting their productivity at work and overall well-being, limiting its prevalence could produce public health benefits.

"The results of our study suggest that prevention and screening must begin at least in young adulthood and that efforts should be intensified among white and Mexican-American men," write Agrawal and colleagues.

By Robynne Boyd
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[tksk53]

WOMEN
Don''t beleive what you read
Men can turn you off when ever we don''t want to do something
TKSK53

[brianbwb-2009]

"White, Mexican-American Men Top List"

Perhaps the cultural preference of "white" males for extremely loud, non-dynamic, aggressive music might lie at the root of their problem.

In my career I have often been a mixer jockey at concerts, and it never ceases to amaze how loud musicians want their monitors, and how loud predominately "White" audiences prefer the PA system.

FOH speakers can produce up to 150db sound pressure levels at a note one octave above middle C, any doctor can tell you that even relatively short exposures to those levels can cause permanent ear damage, yet you still see "rockheads" seeking out the closest spot to the direct front of the speaker path, or in smaller venues, seeking to stand directly in front of large overdriven amps.

Lead poisoning, from lead leaching into the water supply from old pipes can be another factor, I have noticed that food in America is extremely salty, yet the first thing Americans do when they get food is to put salt on it, many times before even tasting it. One symptom of lead poisoning is the inability to taste salt, another is the attenuation of the audible range.

[j_flood]

Huh? 3:15

[sociald63]

sociald63, I saw them in 1981 at the Oakland Coliseum
hey mitchoncbs - those were the days when rock music reallllly meant something. unfortunately, after i recovered - the same thing happened when i saw judas priest, molly hatchet, motorhead ...

sociald63, I saw them in 1981 at the Oakland Coliseum

Can I sue Ted Nugent for my hearing loss? (just kidding). Four years on a flight deck of an aircraft carrier, about 150 concerts (rock-n-roll) and an ex-wife. HUH???

[sociald63]

hey guys - give your spouse/girlfriend that dumb and blank look (like i cant hear ya look) when she mentions that her mom is visiting - works all the time

[sociald63]

i lost my hearing after i saw "the who" play in the oakland arena

[photogeezer]

When we get like this, we''re no fun in bars. We make inappropriate responses to women''s questions because we can''t hear what they said. Hmmmm. Maybe that makes us MORE fun in bars.

Guys, here''s what ya do when your wife gets irritated at our not hearing her: Turn off the TV, go over and ask what she said, becase it HAS to be more important than the History Channel.