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BHI raises awareness of link between cardiovascular and hearing health

Gen Xers and baby boomers should no longer ignore their hearing loss, says the Better Hearing Institute, which is raising awareness of the link between cardiovascular and hearing health in recognition of World Heart Day on September 29th.

20 Sep 2013

Researchers discover how Yersinia immobilizes immune system to spread within organs

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have identified how one type of bacteria, Yersinia, immobilizes the immune system in order to grow in the organs of mice. To do so, the researchers extended the use of a technique and suggest that it could be used to study other bacteria that use the same or similar means of infection.

17 Sep 2013

Stem cells and gene therapy play important role in regeneration of inner ear hair cells

Since Moffat and Ramsden for the first time discovered the possibility of the auditory system in humans in 1977, over the last two decades, great progress has been made in physiopathological research on neurosensory hearing loss. J-rgensen and Mathiesen were the first authors to note the capacity for regeneration of the normal vestibular epithelium in adult Australian parrots.

13 Sep 2013

Voice Program at Mayo Clinic provides expert care for people facing voice complications

People who rely on their voice for a living can rely on Mayo Clinic if there is a problem.

12 Sep 2013

Many women don't get adequate treatment when it comes to labia reduction surgery

Americans, for unknown reasons, don't often speak about vaginal health concerns with the respect and intelligence that they deserve. Because of this embarrassment and reluctance to talk about these issues, many women don't get the adequate treatment they deserve and often need.

7 Sep 2013

Safety and health checklist to help kids avoid emergency room

With the school year underway, Children's Hospital Los Angeles experts have developed a safety and health checklist to help kids avoid the emergency room and develop productive extracurricular and learning activities to enhance the classroom experience. What do parents need to consider? Many symptoms of childhood conditions are often discovered in the classroom.

7 Sep 2013

Inner-ear dysfunction can increase hyperactivity, say researchers

Behavioral abnormalities are traditionally thought to originate in the brain. But a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found that inner-ear dysfunction can directly cause neurological changes that increase hyperactivity.

6 Sep 2013

Understanding single-sided deafness

Single-sided deafness, or being deaf in one ear, isn't exactly the poster-child for disabilities. Rather, it's an overlooked condition that is often misunderstood by the public. There is no way to see SSD, also called profound unilateral hearing loss, so those who suffer from it are often misperceived as "rude" or "unintelligent" when they don't understand or quickly respond to others. That's just one of the many hidden struggles associated with this condition.

5 Sep 2013

Scientists provide insights into compound that may prevent noise-related damage

Your mother was right when she warned you that loud music could damage your hearing, but now scientists have discovered exactly what gets damaged and how. In a research report published in the September 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists describe exactly what type of damage noise does to the inner ear, and provide insights into a compound that may prevent noise-related damage.

30 Aug 2013

Botox also treats facial nerve disorders that occur after Bell's palsy

Botox is best known as a cosmetic treatment for frown lines, but the drug also effectively treats the after effects of Bell's palsy and other serious facial nerve problems.

28 Aug 2013

Research finding could lead to potential treatment for lymphedema

The molecule interleukin-7 is an important immune messenger protein which ensures that a sufficient number of T cells are present in our body for immune defence. Researchers from ETH Zurich have now demonstrated that IL-7 has another important function: it enhances the drainage function of lymphatic vessels, which collect fluid that has leaked out of blood vessels into the body tissue and return it to the bloodstream.

27 Aug 2013

NIH awards grant to FDA-approved clinical trial of auditory brainstem implant in children

House Research Institute (HRI) and Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital) announced today final approval of grant funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Deafness and Communications Disorders (NIDCD) for a major five-year, FDA-approved clinical trial of the auditory brainstem implant (ABI) in children.

21 Aug 2013

New insights on cochlea may help develop better hearing devices

A healthy ear is much better at detecting and transmitting sound than even the most advanced hearing aid. But now researchers reporting in the August 20 issue of the Biophysical Journal, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered new insights into how the ear -- in particular, the cochlea -- processes and amplifies sound.

21 Aug 2013

Study shows complement activation plays an important role in inherited macular degeneration

In a study published on line this week in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, Drs. Donita Garland, Rosario Fernandez-Godino, and Eric Pierce of the Ocular Genomics Institute at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, along with their colleagues, reported the unexpected finding that in mice genetically engineered to have an inherited form of macular degeneration, turning off the animals' complement system, a part of the immune system, prevented the disease.

20 Aug 2013

Traffic-safety rules for school kids

Part of heading back to school is actually getting your kids back to school safely. According to the Centers for Disease Control, on average, there is one pedestrian death every two hours and a pedestrian injury every eight minutes in the United States. Vehicles and kids can be a very scary combination whether the child is walking, biking, riding or driving.

17 Aug 2013

Otolaryngologists to present newest specialty research in OTO EXPO

The 2013 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPOSM of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the largest meeting of ear, nose, and throat doctors in the world, will convene September 29 - October 2, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

17 Aug 2013

Audiologists collaborate with Chicago Bears to provide hearing screenings for children

Six Loyola University Medical Center audiologists recently teamed up with the Chicago Bears to provide hearing screenings to more than 150 disadvantaged children and their parents.

16 Aug 2013

One-third of patients with heart pumps develop infection at abdominal power connection site

Cardiac surgeons and cardiologists at the University of Maryland Heart Center are part of a multi-center clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of powering heart pumps through a skull-based connector behind the ear. Typically, these devices for patients with severe heart failure are energized through an electrical cord connected at an abdominal site, where potentially deadly infections can develop.

8 Aug 2013

Research shows how mammalian and bacterial kingdoms interact

The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae harmlessly colonizes the mucous linings of throats and noses in most people, only becoming virulent when they leave those comfortable surroundings and enter the middle ears, lungs or bloodstream. Now, in research published in July in mBio, University at Buffalo researchers reveal how that happens.