Deafness News and Research

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Improvement in mumps vaccine administration needed to prevent future outbreaks

Although immunity to mumps is high in the United States, mumps vaccine coverage must be maintained and improved to prevent future outbreaks, according to a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/655394), in the September 1, 2010 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

25 Aug 2010

NASN encourages parents to vaccinate their children against meningococcal disease

More than half of adolescents 13 to 17 years of age have not been vaccinated against meningococcal disease, a rare but serious disease that can cause meningitis and take the life of a child in just a single day. In a recent Ipsos national survey, the majority of mothers with children in this age group had not vaccinated their children because they were not fully aware of the need for vaccination.

18 Aug 2010

Scientists develop rapid diagnostic test for detecting meningococcal bacteria

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust have developed a groundbreaking test for meningitis which could help save lives.A rapid diagnostic test for meningococcal bacteria that can produce results within an hour has been developed by scientists from Queen's Centre for Infection and Immunity and the Trust. The speed of this new test is a vital factor in the treatment of young children with meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia who become very ill over a short period.

18 Aug 2010

UT Dallas receives grant from NIH to investigate nerve stimulation for tinnitus

The NIH has granted a University of Texas at Dallas researcher and a university-affiliated biomedical firm $1.7 million to investigate whether nerve stimulation offers a long-term cure for tinnitus.

12 Aug 2010

Dr. Hastings receives grant for Spinal Muscular Atrophy research

Michelle Hastings, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, in the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, has been awarded a five-year $1.68 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support her research aimed at investigating treatments for the fatal children's disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

11 Aug 2010

House to return after Senate approves extension of enhanced Medicaid funds

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring the House back from its recess next week to vote on an extension of enhanced state Medicaid funds the Senate is poised to approve as soon as Thursday afternoon, Politico reports.

6 Aug 2010

Gene mutation that causes auditory neuropathy identified

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a rare form of hearing loss known as auditory neuropathy, according to U-M Medical School scientists.

13 Jul 2010

New device could improve conventional cochlear implants

More electrodes and a thinner, more flexible wire inserted further into the inner ear could improve conventional cochlear implants, a team of Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers say.

2 Jul 2010

Rubella epidemic played a major role in shifting public attitudes toward abortion laws

Ten years before the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion - which likely will be a focus of Senate confirmation questions for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan next week - German measles probably played the biggest part in starting to shift public attitudes about the criminal abortion laws, University of Illinois historian Leslie J. Reagan says in a new book.

29 Jun 2010

Hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels may influence sensitivity to sweet-tasting foods: Study

A hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels may also influence a person's sensitivity to sweet-tasting foods, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They found that blocking the tongue's ability to respond to the hormone known as glucagon decreases the taste system's sensitivity to sweetness.

16 Jun 2010

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

Usher syndrome, an inherited condition involving both hearing and vision loss, is not a simply recessively inherited disease, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Saturday). Dr. Hanno Bolz, Associate Medical Director of the Bioscientia Centre for Human Genetics, Ingelheim, Germany, and active in teaching and research at the University Hospital of Cologne, will say that his team's research challenges the traditional view that USH was inherited as a single gene disorder, and shows that it may result from at least two different genetic mutations.

14 Jun 2010

LSTM designated WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Synthesis for Infectious and Tropical Diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO), in consultation with the government of the United Kingdom, has designated the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Synthesis for Infectious and Tropical Diseases.

11 Jun 2010

Millions of Americans continue to risk losing their hearing each day, warns audiologist

May is Better Hearing Month, but millions of Americans are continuing to needlessly risk losing their hearing each day, warns audiologist Dr. Cindy Beyer. "Almost all hearing loss is due to the aging process or to noise, but only noise-induced hearing loss can be prevented," says Dr. Beyer, senior vice president of HearUSA, a nationwide provider of hearing care and hearing aids.

18 May 2010

Stanford researchers make hair-cell-like cells in a petri dish

Deep inside the ear, specialized cells called hair cells detect vibrations in the air and translate them into sound. Ten years ago, Stefan Heller, PhD, professor of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, came up with the idea that if you could create these cells in the laboratory from stem cells, it would go a long way toward helping scientists understand the molecular basis of hearing in order to develop better treatments for deafness.

14 May 2010

Over time some people may experience NIHL

Driving in traffic, mowing the lawn, playing an instrument, listening to an MP3 player, going to the movies, concerts or athletic games - all the types of noise people experience day after day. Each activity by itself might not be enough to cause noise-induced hearing loss but add it all up and over time some people may experience hearing loss.

4 May 2010

Hormone-like inner ear signaling system protects against noise-induced hearing loss

An in vivo study shows for the first time that there is a stress-response system within the cochlea that mirrors the signaling pathways of the body's fight or flight response. Researchers have identified a hormone-like signaling system of the inner ear that sets baseline hearing sensitivity and helps protect against noise-induced hearing loss.

4 May 2010

Exposure to dust after WTC collapse impairs ability to detect odors and sense irritants

Individuals involved in rescue, recovery, demolition, and clean-up after the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster on September 11, 2001, were exposed to a complex mixture of airborne smoke, dust, combustion gases, acid mists, and metal fumes. The impact of this exposure on responders' upper and lower respiratory function has been well documented, but little is known about its impact on their sensitivity to odor and irritants.

19 Apr 2010

Researchers discover link between protein structure and hearing process

Rising from the top surface of each of the specialized receptor cells in our inner ears is a bundle of sensory cilia that responds to the movement of sound. As sensitive as they are fragile, these cilia can move to wisps of sound no larger than a molecule-but can shear at sounds that are larger than life.

17 Apr 2010

Embryos with two mums to remove the risk of hereditary diseases: new research

New research published in the journal Nature, could pave the way to world’s first genetically modified human baby. The research involves making embryos with genes from one man and two women. There are hundreds or families around the world who are left childless or have serious ill babies because they carry genes for hereditary illnesses. This research may bring hope to such couples. According to scientists on the team, within the next three years these women will be able to avail such techniques. There has been skepticism regarding ethical issues attached to making of “designer babies”.

16 Apr 2010

Universal screening test for CMV infection is not effective, says study

DNA analysis of dried blood samples routinely collected from newborns did not effectively identify an infection that is a major cause of hearing loss in children, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

15 Apr 2010