Tooth and ENT Doctor

THURSDAY, Feb. 19 ( HealthDay News ) -- Vitamin supplements appear to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in lab animals, a new study shows. According to researchers, the finding suggests that it may be possible to create a pill that protects against noise-induced and even age-related hearing loss in humans. Two studies found that giving supplements containing antioxidants [ beta carotene and vitamins C and E] and the mineral magnesium to test animals before they were exposed to a loud noise prevented both temporary and permanent hearing loss. In the first study, vitamin supplements protected guinea pigs exposed to four hours of 110-decibel noise, similar to levels reached at a rock concert. In the second study, vitamin supplements prevented hearing loss in mice exposed to a single loud noise. The findings were to be presented Wednesday at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology annual meeting. Previous research showed that antioxidants can also protect h...

I have an iPod but I seldom use it. It is because most of the time, I am in front of my laptop and playing music through the media player. Recently, we've been reading accounts of audiologists issuing a warning we’ve been told years ago - if we listen too loud for too long, we'll lose our hearing. When the Sony Walkman made its debut in 1979, audio researchers said the same thing. When the portable CD player hit the market five years later in 1984, the warnings were issued again. The difference? This time experts are pointing the finger to longer battery life and seemingly endless string of hits that can be played in our ears through the mp3’s, mp4’s and iPods without a break. There are many portable digital audio and video players on the market but clearly the Apple iPod is the market leader with 42 million units sold, 14 million just in the last quarter of 2005. Some iPods can play up to 20 hours straight before the battery needs recharging. Most units can ho...