Hearing Loss

Hearing loss, impairment or deafness may be of two major types: one that develops some time in life, one that a baby is born with – or congenital deafness. Most commonly, hearing loss is seen with age or is caused by exposure to loud noises.

What is hearing loss?

More than 10 million people in the United Kingdom have some form of hearing loss. Of these about 688,000 are severely or profoundly deaf.

Causes of Hearing Loss

What is Safe Listening?

Treatment of hearing loss

Conductive Hearing Loss

Newborn Hearing Screening

Dealing with Hearing Loss

Recent Developments in Hearing Technology

Hearing Loss and Genetics

Hearing Loss Research

Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Hearing Loss

See more featured articles »

Preventing Noise-induced Hearing Loss

Types of Hearing Loss

Age-Related Hearing Loss (ARHL) / Presbycusis

Latest Hearing Loss News and Research

Discovering the sweet spot for listening in reverberant spaces

Hearing researchers at Macquarie University have shown that listeners rapidly learn and adapt to the characteristics of acoustic spaces to improve their understanding of speech and have found evidence for the brain mechanisms involved in 'listening to the room'.

4 Sep 2025

Transcription factors SP5 and SP8 regulate primary cilia formation in embryos

Some might say it looks like a finger. Others might see a worm. Scientists in the field often liken it to an antenna.

29 Aug 2025

Insights into clinical features and genetic variants of Cornelia de Lange syndrome in China

Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is a rare genetic disorder with symptoms, including facial anomalies (such as fused eyebrows, short nose, upturned nose tip, and downturned mouth corners), growth retardation, small head (microcephaly), developmental delays, cognitive impairments, excess hair growth, and limb anomalies.

29 Aug 2025

Try this when your doctor says ‘yes’ to a preventive test but insurance says ‘no’

Trying to figure out why her claim was denied took Anna Deutscher a lot of time and work.

21 Aug 2025

Gene editing restores hearing and balance in adult mice with DFNA41 deafness

Zheng-Yi Chen, DPhil, associate scientist at the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, and Ines and Fredrick Yeatts Chair in Otolaryngology, at Mass Eye and Ear, is the senior and co-corresponding author of a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, "Single Dose Genome Editing Therapy Rescues Auditory and Vestibular Functions in Adult Mice with DFNA41 Deafness."

14 Aug 2025

Hearing loss impacts employment and income among young adults

Hearing loss is the most common form of sensory disability. Approximately 1.6 billion people around the world currently live with from some degree of hearing loss, and the WHO has forecast that this number will rise to 2.5 billion by 2050.

1 Aug 2025

Updated guideline aims to identify quality improvement opportunities in managing adult sinusitis

The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) published the Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG): Adult Sinusitis Update today in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

31 Jul 2025

New imaging tool measures inner ear fluid to assess hearing loss

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a tool routinely used to diagnose and plan treatment for eye diseases, has now been modified to collect images of the inner ear.

23 Jul 2025

Breakthrough gene therapy reverses genetic deafness across age groups

Using gene therapy to treat hereditary deafness is safe and effective in both children and adults, according to new findings from a multicenter clinical trial.

22 Jul 2025

New genetic discovery could change how Friedreich's ataxia is diagnosed

A University of Oklahoma researcher is the first to discover that the sequence of the genetic defect in the neuromuscular disease Friedreich's ataxia isn't always as uniform as previously thought, a breakthrough finding that could spark changes in how the condition is diagnosed and studied.

21 Jul 2025

Heart healthy habits boost overall body health and longevity

People who had more heart-healthy habits and factors, as assessed by the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 metrics for ideal cardiovascular health, had more positive benefits for whole body health, according to a review of research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Jul 2025

Childhood heart health predicts lifelong well-being, study finds

Optimal heart health from birth through adolescence, as measured by a combination of metrics, leads to long-lasting cardiovascular and overall physical, cognitive and mental health, according to the systematic review published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Jul 2025

Loneliness amplifies cognitive decline in individuals with hearing loss

Isolation, communication difficulties, reduced alertness — hearing impairment or loss is a real challenge in daily life. Over time, it can also become a risk factor for cognitive decline. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) analyzed data from 33,000 older adults across Europe to examine the combined impact of hearing loss and loneliness on memory.

16 Jul 2025

Scientists discover how two distinct genes guide regeneration of sensory cells in zebrafish

While humans can regularly replace certain cells, like those in our blood and gut, we cannot naturally regrow most other parts of the body. For example, when the tiny sensory hair cells in our inner ears are damaged, the result is often permanent hearing loss, deafness, or balance problems.

14 Jul 2025

Redefining Alzheimer’s development by mapping disease sequences

UCLA's study identifies distinct Alzheimer's disease trajectories, emphasizing the role of shared risk factors in early detection and targeted interventions.

9 Jul 2025

Children from culturally and linguistically diverse families more likely to have hearing loss

Children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families are more likely to have hearing loss compared to their ethnic majority peers, research led by The University of Queensland has found.

8 Jul 2025

Hearing aids and cochlear implants improve social lives of adults with hearing loss

Hearing loss doesn't just affect how people hear the world - it can also change how they connect with it.

4 Jul 2025

GATE complex discovery sheds light on CMV's evasion of immune defenses

New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and La Jolla Institute for Immunology, published today in Nature Microbiology, reveals an opportunity for developing a therapy against cytomegalovirus (CMV), the leading infectious cause of birth defects in the United States.

30 Jun 2025

Largest Indian genome study reveals 50,000 years of genetic history

With around 5,000 different ethno-linguistic and religious groups, India is one of the most culturally and genetically diverse countries in the world.

26 Jun 2025