From Slate (8-18-10):
Experts Link Headphone Use to Shocking Rise in Hearing Loss
One in every five teenagers in the United States today has slight hearing loss, according to the authors of a new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The proportion of teenagers with slight hearing loss has jumped 30 percent in the past 15 years.While the new report doesn't speculate as to the causes of problem, a similar study done in Australia this year linked hearing loss to the increased use of headphones and many experts have agreed with those findings. "Personal stereos are the most important change in the culture in the last 15 to 20 years," said Dr. Tommie Robinson Jr., president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. "Everybody has their own little device now, and how many times have you passed somebody and could hear their music?" Reportedly, even slight hearing loss can have a significant impact on speech perception, self-image, social skills development, and learning. "It may seem like they are not in touch," Dr. Gary C. Curhan of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said of teenagers with slight hearing loss among their peers, "and kids are very aware when someone is a little different." Curhan co-authored the report, which found that males are more likely than females to suffer hearing loss, as are teenagers living below the poverty line. "A variety of factors can increase susceptibility to hearing loss, including genetics, certain medicines, head trauma, very loud noises and the existence of hearing loss, which predisposes a person to further loss," the Chicago Tribune reported. Extrapolating the findings of the study, which analyzed data on nearly 3,000 12- to 19-year-olds from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey conducted by a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would mean that nearly 6.5 million teenagers in the U.S. suffer from slight hearing loss.
Read original story in The Chicago Tribune | Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010
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I think this can be true. Most of the people, if not everyone already, have their own personal mp3 player. It has happened many times to me when I pass next to someone or when I sit next to someone I can hear their music. I am not going to lie, I like listening to my music loud too, especially when I have the earphones on and I have noticed that I sometimes can't listen very well. I don't think it is because of that for me, but I am sure that this is true for many young people.
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