About Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States according to a study by Johns Hopkins University.
- One of three U.S. adults suffers from some degree of hearing loss.
- 55 million Americans have hearing loss in one or both ears.
- 29 million adults have some trouble discerning speech.
- Hearing loss is common among people 70 and older. But hearing loss also affected 8.5 percent of those in their 20s and 17 percent of people in their 30s.
- Exposure to workplace noise, firearms, and loud music are all risk factors.
- Men are twice as likely as women to have speech-frequency hearing loss in one or both ears.
- Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes also dramatically increase the chances of hearing loss.
Unfortunately, it is common for people to ignore or disavow hearing loss leading to difficulty communicating that can result in productivity problems at work, depression, and less access to health care that ultimately raises the risk of sickness and death.
Excerpted from Reuters, U.S. Facing Possible Hearing Loss Epidemic—Study, July 28, 2008
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