New Hope For Baby Boomer Hearing Loss

Monday, February 01 2010

January 29, 2010

By Paul Briand, Baby Boomer Writer

A new study seems to turn conventional wisdom about age and hearing loss on its ear.

"Generally people think that our world is getting noisier and noisier, but we found that the prevalence of hearing loss is decreasing," says Dr. Weihai Zhan, who led the study. "These results suggest that hearing loss is not a normal part of aging and there are things we can do to delay hearing loss."

Zhan led a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in a study that showed Baby Boomers are holding on to good hearing longer than their parents did.

If Baby Boomers lost their hearing at the same rate as their parents did, according to the study, about 65.5 million Americans would be hearing-impaired by 2030, but the research says the number is likely to be closer to 50.9 million.

The research suggests a number of factors as to why Baby Boomers hear better as they age, as compared to their parents:

1. Hearing loss from one-time exposures such as music at that Springsteen concert tend to be temporary;

2. There are stricter rules about workplace noise exposure;

3. Fewer Baby Boomers work(ed) in noisy workplaces such as mining and manufacturing;

4. Reduced smoking rates should result in less chronic cardiovascular disease, which can cause hearing loss;

5. And general overall health, with the use of antibiotics, make illness-related hearing loss less of a factor.

The study was published in the Jan. 15 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

That still doesn’t mitigate the fact – as we discussed in July – that some Baby Boomers who are losing their hearing are refusing to acknowledge it or do anything about it.

Attitudes regarding hearing loss itself, as a retired Baby Boomer audiologist noted at the time, must be adjusted in order to mitigate the effects of the condition.

Virginia Dickinson, who blogs and Twitters as an internet entrepreneur, said there is one positive thing to speak about when it comes to  Baby Boomers and hearing loss. Although Boomers are indeed vain about their looks, especially when it comes to hearing aids, she sees signs that attitudes might be shifting.

“Fortunately, we have seen many advances in technology since 1990. And the times have changed,” she said.

“Everywhere we go, we now see people with attachments to their ears, from Bluetooth for their phone, to mp3s, or some other type of communication device. So, now suddenly people with hearing aids are not noticed so much as being different, and certainly are not sticking out like a sore thumb or a neon sign.”

About the Author

Paul Briand spent 33 years in newspaper journalism. Based in New Hampshire, he now writes about issues of interest to Baby Boomers.

Read more of Paul Briand's work for AccessRx.com here.

Read even more of Paul Briand’s published articles here.