Photo credit: rainy city licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
By David M. Sykes, Vice Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Despite impacting 48 million Americans, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has languished in the shadows for decades. But that’s changing! Check out the 17-page beautifully illustrated article in the September issue of Real Simple magazine*, a Time/Life publication with 8.5 million readers nationwide (that’s eight times larger than the New York Times readership of 1.1 million).
If you’ve been looking for a “quick overview” you can hand to friends and family who fail to understand America’s unrecognized problem with hearing loss—whether it’s your kids’ and their constant earbud (ab)use, friends who can’t understand conversations when you’re dining out, or an elderly relative who’s stopped paying attention and is increasingly depressed—this article should get the conversation started. And if they ask “what else can I read about this?” Tell them to look at this issue of Scientific American, new information from the Centers for Disease Control, and this one-page Fact Sheet on the health effects of noise that The Quiet Coalition (TQC) published in 2016.
It’s clear that NIHL is, as TQC’s chair, Daniel Fink, MD, says, “a growing problem in America nearing epidemic proportions.” But there’s a lot of work to do to get people (including the nation’s leaders) to understand that this is a legitimate public health problem. Frankly, the European Union and Asia are far ahead of us on this issue.
In the meantime, take heart: major media are beginning to notice! Congratulations to the editor of Real Simple for recognizing this growing health crisis. We are extremely grateful that her magazine cited three of TQC’s Steering Committee experts in this piece–Rick Neitzel, PhD, Arline Bronzaft, PhD, and Bradley Vite–and also
described two practical success stories. We hope Real Simple will continue to cover this issue and give it the attention it deserves.
We have only one complaint: the magazine erroneously states that 85 dB is the threshold of hearing damage. In fact, research has shown that permanent hearing damage starts at noise levels as low as 75 dB; furthermore, non-audiological health effects, such as cardiovascular effects, can be caused by noises as low as 55 dB.
*NOTE: the best place to find Real Simple magazine may be at the checkout counter at Whole Foods or a local book store. Or you can get it here.
