Researchers reported that cognitively normal study participants who were taking at least one anticholinergic drug at baseline were 47% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a precursor to dementia such as AD, while being tracked over a period of up to a decade compared to participants who did not take such drugs.
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Nearly 6 million patients globally are diagnosed with a cancer each year in which first-line therapy potentially includes highly toxic, platinum-based chemotherapies. While the treatment may lead to hearing loss, ringing in the ears, numbness in hands and feet, and other side effects, it is the only proven cure for the vast majority of testicular cancer patients.
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In her new role, Panko will oversee the Deaf Health Laboratory’s mission to conduct research in the deaf community on the areas of preventive health, health literacy, health knowledge, and the deaf experience in health care.
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A large selection of teleaudiology solutions now exist that provides greater practice efficiencies and much higher levels of outreach and accessibility for your patients—and for other consumers who should be your patients. Here is just a brief sampling of some of the options for enhancing your teleaudiology capabilities.
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Findings show that survivors with severe hearing loss are at a significantly increased risk for neurocognitive deficits, independent of what type of therapy they receive.
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The study notes that two forms of early life toxic stress that can potentially impact the health of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing are language deprivation (insufficient access to direct child–caregiver communication during the critical period of language development) and communication neglect (ongoing or recurrent exclusion from indirect family communication and incidental learning).
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On July 31st, Michael Valente will retire after 45 years in audiology and 34 years at Washington University. In this article, Douglas Beck conducts an “exit interview” with one of our most distinguished clinician-researchers about his journey in the profession, the Best Practices documents which he spearheaded, OTC devices, and the future of hearing healthcare.
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The latest cochlear implant from MED-EL incorporates a “revolutionary design change” that allows the special internal magnet to rotate with the magnetic force from the MRI, making surgical removal of the magnet or a head wrap unnecessary.
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Based on the audiograms of over 28,000 adults, this study shows that commercially-available hearing aids programmed according to parameters typical of those used for individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss yield output and gain levels that are well within the recommended limits (110 dB SPL output and 25 dB gain) specified by a recent Consensus Paper issued by the four national professional organizations representing hearing healthcare providers.
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To achieve reprogramming, the scientists exposed fibroblasts and supporting cells to a cocktail of four transcription factors, which are molecules that help convey the instructions encoded in DNA. The scientists identified this cocktail by testing various combinations of 16 transcription factors that were highly active in the hair cells of newborn mice.
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After more than a decade of work by more than 150 TCGA researchers at institutions across North America, TCGA scientists have created molecular maps of more than 20,000 primary cancer and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types, laying the foundation for precision cancer medicine.
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The COM-B model provides a framework for understanding factors that influence consumer behavior when purchasing hearing aids. While OTC hearing aids have been created to address affordability and accessibility, researchers Brent Edwards and Melanie Ferguson point out that the model clearly suggests consumers will continue to reject hearing aids until the other influencing factors are addressed.
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To hear, animals rely on hair cells in the inner ear, which bend under the pressure of sound waves and send electrical impulses to the brain. The recessive mutation to TMC1 that Liu and Yeh hoped to correct caused rapid deterioration of those hair cells, leading to profound deafness at just 4 weeks of age.
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By the time mice are born, the progenitor cells in the Organ of Corti have finished both proliferation and differentiation, and cannot regenerate if they are damaged—causing permanent hearing loss.
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In the future, scientists may be able to use the data to steer stem cells toward the hair cell lineage, helping to produce the specialized cells they need to test cell replacement approaches for reversing some forms of hearing loss.
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