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

See more featured articles »

Hearing Loss and Genetics

Latest Hearing Loss News and Research

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

5 things to know about health care changes in Montana

The 2021 Montana legislative session will be remembered as one of the state's most consequential as a Republican-led legislature and governor's office passed new laws restricting abortions, lowering taxes and regulating marijuana.

7 May 2021

Study underscores the importance of mental health screening in adolescents with hearing loss

A new study led by a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researcher underscores the importance of screening adolescents with hearing loss for depression and anxiety.

4 May 2021

Researchers discover elusive cell type in fish sensory organs

One of the evolutionary disadvantages for mammals, relative to other vertebrates like fish and chickens, is the inability to regenerate sensory hair cells.

26 Apr 2021

Study describes “cocktail party effect” in people with hearing loss

Plenty of people struggle to make sense of a multitude of converging voices in a crowded room. Commonly known as the "cocktail party effect," people with hearing loss find it's especially difficult to understand speech in a noisy environment.

22 Apr 2021

Georgia State professor receives $2.3 million federal grant to study inflammation in infectious diseases

Dr. Jian-Dong Li, professor and director of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a five-year, $2.3 million federal grant to study how overactive inflammatory response is caused in infectious diseases and to further develop novel anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

21 Apr 2021

Rice bioengineer wins NIH support for a new strategy to fight cystic fibrosis

Chemical and biomolecular engineer Xue Sherry Gao of Rice University's Brown School of Engineering has won National Institutes of Health support for a new strategy to fight cystic fibrosis.

8 Apr 2021

Women who suffer from sensory loss more likely to report depression and anxiety

Women who suffer from vision, hearing or dual sensory loss are more than twice as likely to report depression and anxiety as men who experience the same issues, according to a new study by Anglia Ruskin University.

26 Mar 2021

Can COVID-19 cause hearing loss, vertigo, and tinnitus?

Researchers at the University of Manchester, UK, aimed to systematically review the literature to provide evidence on SARS-CoV-2 and audio-vestibular symptoms. They found that COVID-19 has been tied to hearing loss, vertigo, and tinnitus.

26 Mar 2021

Hearing loss, other auditory problems strongly linked with Covid-19

Hearing loss and other auditory problems are strongly associated with Covid-19 according to a systematic review of research evidence led by University of Manchester and NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) scientists.

21 Mar 2021

New form of AI suggests the best diagnostic strategies

AI has, for some time, been applied to diagnose medical conditions in specific fields. It can build on knowledge of particular disciplines to hone in on details such as the shape of a tumor that suggests breast cancer or abnormal cells that indicate cervical cancer.

17 Mar 2021

One in four people could face some degree of hearing loss by 2050, WHO report warns

One in four people across the world — nearly 2.5 billion — could face some degree of hearing loss by 2050 with at least 700 million requiring access to treatment and rehabilitation, a WHO report warns.

11 Mar 2021

Dry eye disease negatively affects patients' health and vision related quality of life

Patients suffering from dry eye disease symptoms have a lower quality of life compared to those without symptoms, a new study reports.

11 Mar 2021

Researchers develop a genetic patch to prevent hereditary deafness

They can hear well up to about forty years old, but then suddenly deafness strikes people with DFNA9. The cells of the inner ear can no longer reverse the damage caused by a genetic defect in their DNA.

2 Mar 2021

New poll spotlights a major gap in testing for hearing loss in older adults

Eighty percent of Americans over 50 say their primary care doctor hasn't asked about their hearing in the past two years, and nearly as many - 77% -- haven't had their hearing checked by a professional in that same time, according to a new national poll report.

2 Mar 2021