Hearing Loss Campaign in India Headed by Cricket Ambassador Brett Lee

Hearing loss affects all age groups
Half of all hearing loss cases can be avoided through primary preventive methods
Ten million Americans suffer irreversible hearing damage from loud noise
Listening to sound music through headsets is the main reason behind hearing loss in adolescents

Australian cricketer Brett Lee, Cochlear’s Global Hearing Ambassador, is touring India for the “Sounds of Cricket” campaign. The campaign is aimed at raising awareness about the social, emotional and economical impact of hearing loss on people and their families.

Hearing loss or hearing impairment is the partial or total inability to hear in one or both the ears. Hearing loss is one of the most widespread sensory deficit globally today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). An individual who is not able to hear a hearing threshold of 25dB (decibel) in both ears is said to have hearing loss.

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‘Hearing loss or hearing impairment is the result of sound waves not reaching the brain. Brett Lee is in India to promote the use of cochlear implant to overcome hearing disability.’

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Degree of Hearing Loss	Hearing Loss Range (dB)
Mild	25-40 dB
Moderate	40-70 dB
Severe	70-95 dB
Profound	>95dB

The main types of hearing loss include:

Sensorineural hearing loss caused by the damage to the hair cells present inside the inner ear
Conductive hearing loss when sounds are unable to pass from the outer ear to the inner ear due to ear wax or glue ear.

Lee recalled his personal experience when his son suffered hearing loss due to a head injury. “Though he regained it after 18 months, but as a parent, I was so tensed”, said Lee. He continued saying “It is indeed an honor to be associated with this cause. Through the ‘Sounds of Cricket’ campaign, I am keen to spread the message about how cochlear implants help individuals with hearing loss lead a normal life I have personally witnessed how an implant takes a person from silence to sound. It is a life changing moment."

Hearing Loss Facts and Statistics

Around 360 million people worldwide (328 million adults and 32 million children) suffer disabling hearing loss. Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss >40 dB in the better hearing ear in adults and >30dB in the better hearing ear in children
Up to 5 in every 1000 infants are born with or develop hearing loss in early childhood
One out of every three people over the age of 65 years are affected by hearing loss
Causes of hearing loss can be classified into congenital and acquired
People with hearing loss can benefit from hearing aids, cochlear implants (a medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear) and other assistive devices.

Early detection and treatment are vital to minimize the impact of hearing loss on a child’s development. Universal new-born health screening can help identify hearing loss in babies at birth thereby reducing the trauma of hearing loss.

References:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/types-causes-and-treatment
http://www.hear-it.org/Defining-hearing-loss
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/prevention-hearing-loss

Source-Medindia

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