Queen drummer Taylor reliant on hearing aids

A long life as a musician in the rock band Queen has left its mark on drummer Roger Taylor’s hearing, but the rocker is still active

Years of playing loud music has made Roger Taylor hard of hearing and reliant on hearing aids. "I guess it was inevitable and hardly surprising given what I have been doing for the past 40 years,” the Queen star says.

My standard reply

There is a running joke in Taylor’s house, that no matter which question you ask the Queen drummer, the response is always the same. “Half-past seven is my standard reply,” Taylor says with a smile. “It doesn’t matter whether they’ve asked me what I want to drink, watch on TV or where I want to go on holiday.” Behind this private joke lies the uncomfortable truth that one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music has suffered dramatic hearing loss. Found By His Wife

My wife was the one who kept pointing out that the TV volume was up too loud, though I could only just hear it. Then I kept missing out on dialogue in films and at dinner parties and social gatherings I couldn’t understand what people were saying. It felt strange and frustrating to a point where I was starting to lip-read. I realised my hearing wasn’t what it should be,” the drummer explains.

Hearing aids help

Taylor is now wearing hearing aids in both ears. Luckily, the hearing loss has not affected Taylor’s vocal range, but his hearing aids are a great help. “I can still pitch perfectly but without the hearing aids I don’t hear the intricate high parts of the actual spectrum. It goes all ‘wooferly’.”

Good company

Taylor is not the only rock musician struggling with serious hearing loss e.g. The Who's Pete Townshend is also suffering from hearing loss, so the Queen star feels he is in "good company".

One Man's Experience Hearing Better

New Research Shows That Hearing Aids Help Majority of Users to Regain Quality of Life

Washington, DC — According to a new research study conducted by the Better Hearing Institute (BHI), today’s technically advanced, sleekly designed hearing aids are helping people with hearing loss regain their quality of life and remain socially involved.

The researchers surveyed 2,000 hearing aid users from across the United States and found that 8 out of 10 hearing aid users are satisfied with the changes that have occurred in their lives specifically due to their hearing aids. In addition, 82% of participants say that they would recommend hearing aids to their friends.

“This survey clearly reveals how dramatically people’s lives can improve with the use of hearing aids,” said Sergei Kochkin, PhD, BHI’s executive director and frequent contributor to The Hearing Review.

The improvements that participants saw in their quality of life as a result of their use of hearing aids were broad and varied. Among the findings:

■Nearly 70% of hearing aid users said their ability to communicate effectively in most situations improved because of their hearing aid;

■A little more than half said their hearing aids improved their relationships at home, their social life, and their ability to join in groups;

■Roughly 40% noted improvements in their sense of safety, self-confidence, feelings about self, sense of independence, and work relationships;

■Between 25% and 33% of hearing aid users said they even saw improvements in their romance, sense of humor, cognitive skills, and mental, emotional, and physical health;

■91% of all hearing aid users surveyed are satisfied with the ability of their hearing aids to improve communication in one-on-one situations; and

■85% of hearing aid users are satisfied their hearing aids improve communications in small groups; 80% while watching television; 78% while outdoors; 78% during leisure activities; 77% while shopping; and 77% while riding in a car.

Kochkin commented that outdated notions about hearing aids pose a significant barrier that inhibits people from addressing their hearing loss. He also said that public perception of hearing aids hasn’t kept pace with the new technologies and discreet designs of today’s modern devices. Furthermore, the misperceptions are holding people back from improving their quality of life by addressing their hearing loss.

Indeed, the BHI study reveals that 79% of people who do seek help and use hearing aids are satisfied with them, and 86% are satisfied with the benefit they derive from hearing aid usage.

“Today’s hearing aids are about staying young, not growing old,” Kochkin explained in the press statement. “People want to hold onto their vitality as they enter and move through middle-age. But when someone ignores a hearing loss—which oftentimes has progressed gradually over time as a result of repeated noise exposure—that individual unwittingly begins losing the very vitality they treasure. What this research shows, however, is that those who do face their hearing loss and use hearing aids are experiencing significant and satisfying improvements in their quality of life.”

For more details, see the entire news release on BHI’s Web site.

SOURCE: Better Hearing Institute

Hearing Aids May Help Decrease Brain Atrophy

Reprinted from Hearing Review: http://www.hearingreview.com/insider/2011-09-08_05.asp

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray matter atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech. However, a hearing aid may help decrease the atrophy, as well as help hearing ability.


When a sense (taste, smell, sight, hearing, touch) is altered, the brain reorganizes and adjusts. In the case of poor hearers, the researchers found that the gray matter density of the auditory areas was lower in people with decreased hearing ability, suggesting a link between hearing ability and brain volume.

Lead author Jonathan Peelle, PhD, research associate in the Department of Neurology, explained in the press release, "As hearing ability declines with age, interventions such as hearing aids should be considered, not only to improve hearing, but [also] to preserve the brain." He added, "People hear differently, and those with even moderate hearing loss may have to work harder to understand complex sentences."

In a pair of studies, researchers measured the relationship of hearing acuity to the brain, first measuring the brain's response to increasingly complex sentences and then measuring cortical brain volume in the auditory cortex. Older adults (60-77 years of age) with normal hearing for their age were evaluated to determine whether normal variations in hearing ability impacted the structure or function of the network of areas in the brain supporting speech comprehension.

The studies found that people with hearing loss showed less brain activity on functional MRI scans when listening to complex sentences. Poorer hearers also had less gray matter in the auditory cortex, suggesting that areas of the brain related to auditory processing may show accelerated atrophy when hearing ability declines.

In general, research suggests that hearing sensitivity has cascading consequences for the neural processes supporting both perception and cognition. Although the research was conducted in older adults, the findings also have implications for younger adults, including those concerned about listening to music at loud volumes. "Your hearing ability directly affects how the brain processes sounds, including speech," says Peelle. "Preserving your hearing doesn't only protect your ears, but also helps your brain perform at its best."

The research appears in the August 31, 2011, edition of The Journal of Neuroscience and was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Physicians should monitor hearing in patients as they age, noting that individuals who still fall within normal hearing ability may have increasing complaints of speech comprehension issues. Patients should talk to their physician or an audiologist if they are experiencing any difficulty hearing or understanding speech.

Is Your Child Hearing Well?

Child Hearing Loss

Hearing loss at any age is an emotional issue. It robs you of a sense that adds so much to the richness of life. This loss is especially heartbreaking in children. Not only does it impact the sound experience of a life yet to be lived to the fullest, but it also creates a barrier to a child's number one job, learning. Fortunately, many causes of hearing loss are treatable, and it is often possible to return the sounds of childhood to a young life. Read on to learn more.

Categories of Hearing Loss

As with adults, hearing loss in children is measured in degrees. The loss can range from mild, one that causes difficulty hearing hushed tones such as a whisper to moderately severe, where the child can still hear loud speech, to a total loss resulting in deafness.

Hearing loss in children typically falls into two main categories. The most common, a conductive hearing loss, is associated with conditions in the external or middle ear that block the transmission of sound. These conditions can include ear infection, fluid in the ear, impacted earwax, a perforated eardrum, a foreign object in the canal or birth defects that alter the canal. Many of these conditions are treatable through minor procedures or surgery.

Sensorineural loss, also known as "nerve deafness", is the second type. This occurs when there is damage to the inner ear or nerve pathways from the inner to the brain. Most often, this type of loss is caused by congenital. It can also be caused by the use of ototoxic drugs (antibiotics), premature birth with a very low birth weight and some of the resulting treatments or a number of other medical conditions. Although there is no cure for this type of hearing loss, in most cases children can often be helped with hearing aids.

Symptoms

Signs to look for possible hearing issues in children of different ages are:

Newborn / infant:

•Not startling at loud noises

•Not showing normal speech development

Toddler and older:

•Sitting close to the television with the sound turned up to a loud volume

•Having difficulty in school

•Not responding to someone that is talking without being face to face

•Stating they are having difficulty hearing

If you believe your child is experiencing a hearing loss, please come to our office in American Fork or Spanish Fork to meet with our Audiologists. Timely hearing testing, diagnosis and treatment will provide the best course of action ensuring the highest quality lifetime experiences for your child.

Contact us today 801-770-0801 to book your appointment.

Hearing Aids Running On Methanol?

Reposted from http://www.hearit.org/

In just a short time, hearing aid batteries could be replaced by a drop of methanol.

Danish scientists are working on replacing the existing batteries in hearing aids with easily rechargeable fuel cells which run on methanol.

”We have come further than we ever could have hoped when we started this project of designing methanol-based batteries which can replace the traditional zinc batteries in hearing aids today”. That is what Leif Højslet Christensen, head of the Danish Technological Institute, and head of the project, says.

Recharging in 30 seconds

The vision of the project is that the batteries in a hearing aid should not need to be replaced for five years. Instead, one should simply take the hearing aid with its in-built fuel cell out and fill it with methanol for 30 seconds in a recharger. After this, it can be put back in the ear.

“Our realistic hope right from the start was to get a fuel cell to last for a month before it needed to be changed. Now, we have reached a life of five weeks. We are very satisfied with that,” says Leif Højslet Christensen.

”We are also very satisfied that we have developed a docking station – a recharger- about the size of a mobile phone, in which one opens the lid, puts the hearing aid in, closes it again and pushes a button, so that the fuel cells are refuelled with methanol.”

Leif Højslet Christensen explains, that they have already attached a hearing aid to a fuel cell via wires and can, in practice, say that the hearing aid runs on methanol. The goal now is to make the fuel cells small enough that they can be put directly in the hearing aid.

Perhaps ready by 2012

“We expect to launch the first fuel cells, which can be used directly in hearing aids, in 2012 – 18 months earlier than expected,” explains Leif Højslet Christensen.

There are around 40 million hearing aid users in the world. They use 3.7 million batteries per year, which today contain mercury. The more of these which can be replaced, the better it is for the environment.

Leif Højslet Christensen explains, that each fuel cell uses 1:100-200 thousandths of a litre of methanol in each recharging. According to him, the waste products are water vapour and carbon dioxide, which are both totally harmless to both people and the environment.

The Danish Technological Institute is working with scientists from DTU Nanotech in Copenhagen and Institute of Chemistry at the University of Aarhus.

Sources: Hørelsen 01, 2011 and Auris, 01, 2011