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

Hearing loss experts urge FDA to permit the sale of OTC hearing aids

Hearing loss experts at Mass Eye and Ear are advocating for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement a law passed by Congress permitting the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids.

19 Nov 2020

Somatic mutation may act as a natural gene therapy in patients with rare autosomal disease

Researchers affiliated with the Center for Cell-Based Therapy in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, have identified for the first time a non-hereditary mutation in blood cells from a patient with GATA2 deficiency, a rare autosomal disease caused by inherited mutations in the gene that encodes GATA-binding protein 2 (GATA2).

17 Nov 2020

Hearing test could help identify newborns with autism

For years, researchers have known through numerous studies that hearing and other sensory systems of adults and children who have autism differ from children or adults without autism.

12 Nov 2020

Dementia prevention strategies are likely to be cost-effective and cost saving

Programmes to reduce dementia risk by targeting smoking, high blood pressure and hearing loss are likely to be cost-effective and cost saving by reducing dementia rates by 8.5%, finds a new study by UCL and LSE researchers.

20 Oct 2020

Research could pave way for personalized cochlear implants

Cochlear implants are a groundbreaking technology that has changed the lives of many people living with severe to profound hearing loss.

19 Oct 2020

COVID-19 can cause sudden permanent hearing loss in rare cases

Many complications have been reported, including heart disease and prolonged respiratory issues in a group of people called “long-haulers.” Now, a new worrying finding shows that COVID-19 can cause sudden and irreversible hearing loss in patients.

15 Oct 2020

COVID-19-related social distancing measures reduce noise exposure nearly in half

People's exposure to environmental noise dropped nearly in half during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, according to University of Michigan researchers who analyzed data from the Apple Hearing Study.

9 Oct 2020

UM associate professor wins multiple awards for ear, skin science

University of Montana scientist Monica Serban is on a research roll. In recent months the UM associate professor and her team have earned three awards totaling $3.9 million in funding to study preventing hearing loss among U.S. troops, combating ear infections and creating a synthetic skin product.

6 Oct 2020

Ultra-low-cost hearing aid could help millions of older people worldwide

Using a device that could be built with a dollar's worth of open-source parts and a 3D-printed case, researchers want to help the hundreds of millions of older people worldwide who can't afford existing hearing aids to address their age-related hearing loss.

23 Sep 2020

Study finds spectrum of genes responsible for inherited hearing loss in Israeli Jewish families

Until now, seven genes were known to be involved in hearing loss in Israel's Jewish population. A new study led by Zippora Brownstein, PhD, and Prof. Karen Avraham from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University has found that 32 genes are responsible for inherited hearing loss in Israeli Jewish families.

23 Sep 2020

UMSOM researchers determine role of protein in development of hearing hair cells

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have conducted a study that has determined the role that a critical protein plays in the development of hair cells.

12 Sep 2020

IU researcher receives NCI grant to study side effects of cancer treatment

A researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has been awarded a five-year, $5.7 million National Cancer Institute grant to evaluate long-term health outcomes for cancer patients who receive platinum-based chemotherapies.

5 Sep 2020

New theory explains how hearing loss may cause dementia

Scientists have developed a new theory as to how hearing loss may cause dementia and believe that tackling this sensory impairment early may help to prevent the disease.

1 Sep 2020

Cochlear implants should be offered to adults with moderate to severe or worse hearing loss

An international group of hearing specialists has released a new set of recommendations emphasizing that cochlear implants should be offered to adults who have moderate to severe or worse hearing loss much more often than is the current practice.

27 Aug 2020

Oticon’s BrainHearing philosophy reaches new levels with breakthrough evidence

Oticon is pleased to share new evidence that supports its research into opening up sound for people with hearing loss in order to support the brain’s natural hearing function.

25 Aug 2020

New study challenges hypothesis underlying the sensitivity of mammalian auditory system

A new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus challenges a decades-old hypothesis on adaptation, a key feature in how sensory cells of the inner ear (hair cells) detect sound.

15 Aug 2020

Preexisting drug shows promise as a weapon against SARS-CoV-2 virus

First appearing in late 2019 in Wuhan City, China, the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to cause sickness and death across the globe.

14 Aug 2020

Large-scale analysis of Alport syndrome reveals the effectiveness of existing treatments

A large-scale analysis of the clinical characteristics of Alport syndrome in Japanese patients has revealed that the effectiveness of existing treatment with ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (RAS inhibitors) varies depending on the type of mutation in the syndrome's causal gene (COL4A5).

7 Aug 2020

Online 'boosters' may provide a pathway for hearing protection behaviors among farm youths

Researchers at the University of Michigan are interested in changing the behavior of some 2 million farm youths affected by hazardous noise exposure and hearing loss in the United States.

5 Aug 2020

40% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by modifying 12 risk factors

Modifying 12 risk factors over a lifetime could delay or prevent 40% of dementia cases, according to an updated report by the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

30 Jul 2020