insert_link Africa Nearly 136 million people in Africa live with hearing difficulties: tackling the crisis with a smartphone and an app By De Wet Swanepoel, University of Pretoria In rural Kenya, 64-year-old John Kamau’s world of silence is about to change. For decades, isolated by hearing loss from the community’s vibrant life and his grandchildren’s conversations, he sees hope when a community health worker visits with a smartphone in hand. This isn’t just any visit; it’s the gateway to Kamau’s reconnection with the world, facilitated by breakthrough digital […] todayApril 18, 2024 18
insert_link Lifestyle Say That Again: Using Hearing Aids Can Be Frustrating for Older Adults, but Necessary By Judith Graham via KFF Health News It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking. Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over. Then, there were the problems […] todayFebruary 29, 2024 19
insert_link Lifestyle Video gamers worldwide may be risking irreversible hearing loss and/or tinnitus Video gamers worldwide may be risking irreversible hearing loss and/or tinnitus—persistent ringing/buzzing in the ears—finds a systematic review of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. What evidence there is suggests that the sound levels reported in studies of more than 50,000 people often near, or exceed, permissible safe limits, conclude the researchers. And given the popularity of these games, greater public health efforts are needed to […] todayJanuary 18, 2024 11
