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.

Types of Hearing Loss

Causes of Hearing Loss

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Hearing Loss

Treatment of hearing loss

Preventing Noise-induced Hearing Loss

Age-Related Hearing Loss (ARHL) / Presbycusis

Hearing Loss Research

Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)

Conductive Hearing Loss

Newborn Hearing Screening

Dealing with Hearing Loss

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Hearing Loss and Genetics

Latest Hearing Loss News and Research

New online tool launched to accelerate discoveries for reversing progressive hearing loss

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine launched a new online tool that could more quickly advance medical discoveries to reverse progressive hearing loss.

19 Jul 2021

Antihypertension drug may benefit patients with neurofibromatosis type 2

New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear indicates that the blood pressure drug losartan may benefit patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a hereditary condition associated with vestibular schwannomas, or noncancerous tumors along the nerves in the brain that are involved with hearing and balance.

15 Jul 2021

Researchers gain new insights into the pathology of Usher syndrome

Human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common form of hereditary deaf-blindness. Sufferers can be deaf from birth, suffer from balance disorders, and eventually lose their eyesight as the disease progresses.

12 Jul 2021

Researchers develop innovative hearing contact lens for people with hearing impairment

Excessive noise, hearing loss, vascular constriction, old age - hearing difficulties can be caused by many factors. To help improve the quality of life of people with hearing impairment, Mannheim start-up Vibrosonic have developed a new, innovative hearing aid with an integrated loudspeaker that sits directly on the eardrum.

2 Jul 2021

Transparent masks can facilitate communication and improve interaction, study shows

The use of transparent masks during communication increases comprehension of speech by about 10% for people with hearing loss and people with normal hearing, according to a study published in the journal Ear and Hearing.

29 Jun 2021

Unrepaired DNA damage can increase the speed of aging, study suggests

Every day, our bodies face a bombardment of UV rays, ozone, cigarette smoke, industrial chemicals and other hazards.

21 Jun 2021

New technique shows promise as non-invasive intervention for congenital hearing loss

Broadband sounds embedded with short pauses can maintain temporal sound processing in a mouse model of hearing loss, according to new research published in eNeuro.

17 Jun 2021

Experts call for new standards to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in younger generations

As more and more people are taking advantage of music on the go, personal audio systems are pumping up the volume to the detriment of the listener's hearing. Children, teenagers, and young adults are listening to many hours of music daily at volumes exceeding the globally recommended public health limit of 70 decibels of average leisure noise exposure for a day for a year.

11 Jun 2021

Healthy behaviors can prevent dementia, finds study

A new Alzheimer's disease drug will hit the market soon, the first in nearly two decades. But some experts say the evidence for it isn't terribly strong and worry that it may cost a lot.

9 Jun 2021

Men with sensory loss more likely to be physically inactive and obese than women

Men who suffer sensory loss, particularly hearing loss, are more likely to be physically inactive and obese than women, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Public Health.

8 Jun 2021

UVA researchers shed new light on brain development

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have shed new light on how our brains develop, revealing that the very last step in cell division is crucial for the brain to reach its proper size and function.

31 May 2021

Study sheds new light on human brain development

29 May 2021

Women with osteoporosis and low bone density have higher risk of hearing loss

Hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in the United States. Previous studies of people with hearing loss have uncovered higher prevalence of osteoporosis -- a disease in which the bones become weak and brittle -- and low bone density (LBD).

25 May 2021

Superoxide produced in the inner ear cochlea causes major types of acquired hearing loss

Professor UEYAMA Takehiko (Biosignal Research Center, Kobe University) and the inner ear research group (Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine) have identified the cell types in the inner ear cochlea responsible for the production of superoxide (Nox3-expressing cells).

25 May 2021

Study on canine hereditary deafness may also shed light on human hereditary hearing defects

Finnish researchers have been the first to determine the cause for the nonsyndromic early-onset hereditary canine hearing loss in Rottweilers.

22 May 2021

Researchers find new clue to restore congenital hearing loss

Researchers at Oregon State University have found a key new piece of the puzzle in the quest to use gene therapy to enable people born deaf to hear.

19 May 2021

Scientists identify receptor in cells that could be key to preventing cancer drug-induced hearing loss

University of Alberta scientists have identified a receptor in cells that could be key to preventing permanent hearing loss in childhood cancer survivors who are being treated with the drug cisplatin.

14 May 2021

Tympanostomy tubes have no long-term benefits for childhood ear infections

There is no long-term benefit to surgically placing tympanostomy tubes in a young child's ears to reduce the rate of recurrent ear infections during the ensuing two years compared with giving oral antibiotics to treat ear infections, a randomized trial led by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh pediatrician-scientists determined.

13 May 2021

New findings challenge the decades-old working mechanism of the hearing organ

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have made several discoveries on the functioning mechanisms of the inner hair cells of the ear, which convert sounds into nerve signals that are processed in the brain.

10 May 2021

Absence of key gene causes severe hearing loss

A gene called GAS2 plays a key role in normal hearing, and its absence causes severe hearing loss, according to a study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

7 May 2021