Research
Apple conducts major hearing study as part of growing "democratisation" of research
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- Published on 11 September 2019
data
In a move that Apple claims will allow customers to contribute to medical discoveries, the phone and computer giant is to conduct three large-scale health studies, one of them into the impact of everyday sound exposure on hearing.
Hearing is enhanced by vagus nerve stimulation paired with repetitive sounds
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- Published on 29 August 2019
brain
Potential therapeutic benefits for a range of conditions including tinnitus have been glimpsed thanks to newly published research involving vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in rats.
How much spin is there in medical research journal abstracts?
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- Published on 25 August 2019
journals
As many as 56% of abstracts in psychology and psychiatry journals contain spin to boost their results, according to a recent study by Oklahoma researchers.
The sex is in the spirals - the cochlea tells the difference in forensics breakthrough
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- Published on 20 August 2019
forensics
The human cochlea is sex-typed from an early post-natal age - this is the startling and welcome finding of a study that has delivered the first reliable method for sex determination, even in child skeletons and cases with missing or degraded DNA molecules.
Aldosterone hormone fix for age-related hearing loss nears marketplace
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- Published on 14 August 2019
drugs
If the mice are right, there is a drug fix for age-related hearing loss just around the next bureaucratic corner: the hormone aldosterone, combined with anti-inflammatory medicine, can rejuvenate hearing, says the team behind the development.
US burden of eustachian tube dysfunction higher than estimated, says study
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- Published on 06 August 2019
ear health
The number of US citizens with eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), barring those with recent colds, was previously estimated at under 1%, but a new study puts the figure at 4.6%, some 11m people. And the researchers say their figure may underestimate the condition's true prevalence.
Will tickling the ears of over-55s balance their nerves?
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- Published on 03 August 2019
ageing
It may sound like wily medieval quackery, but researchers from the UK's University of Leeds are suggesting that tickling the ear may open a gateway to the body's metabolic balance and lead to healthier ageing.
Music-making improves language abilities, research suggests
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- Published on 27 July 2019
music
Audiologists and speech-language therapists should persuade parents of patients to build music activity into their children's programmes, claims a Marseille-based neuroscience researcher.
Gene-editing fix for progressive hearing loss comes closer
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- Published on 27 July 2019
genetics
Progressive hearing loss is just one of around 5,000 diseases linked to single-gene changes, but geneticists have so far lacked the precision tools to stop us developing these conditions. A genetic cure for this kind of deafness just came a huge step closer.
Children who say hand dryers ‘hurt my ears’ proved right by "real world" study
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- Published on 09 July 2019
noise
A study in the journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society suggests that hand dryers in public washrooms may be damaging to children's hearing. The published research was carried out by a 13-year-old.
