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NewsletterJanuary 2010 |
Hello, everyone! |
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Happy New Year! We hope 2010 is a good year for you and your family.
We look forward to helping more hard-of-hearing folks during this new year to hear better with continuing improvements in technology. | |
Senior Moments in Noisy Situations?
No doubt about it, as we age, so does our hearing, causing us to have difficulty, mainly in noisy situations.
Studies have shown that cognitive ability is not the issue. Unless a person has had a stroke or suffers from another neurological disorder, the ability to extract meaning from the words we hear does not generally decline with age. Yes, the good news is that older folks are just as good at processing what they hear as the younger folks.
However, when in loud, noisy settings, it's been shown that those who are older do have difficulty recognizing words. This may be due to hearing loss, but it also involves age-related structural changes in the brain!
Hearing Loss and Age-Related Word Recognition
Kelly C. Harris, an assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina presented her research findings at the 2009 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.
According to Kelly C. Harris, "We found that a small portion of the brain's auditory cortex is closely related to word recognition, and that structural change in the volume of this area is associated with recognition problems in older patients."
In this study, MRI scans were performed on 36 adults. The adults were evenly split into two groups, ages 19-39 and ages 61-79. The scans revealed that in noisy listening situations older adults usually had problems with word recognition; this was linked to a reduction in size of the brain's auditory cortex.
The bottom line: One doesn't have to avoid social situations and become a recluse! Have a hearing test to discover if hearing loss is involved. If it is, there are some wonderful hearing aids available that will help with speech clarity, and make those difficult social settings more comfortable.
Missed one of our monthly newsletters?
All our Newsletters are archived on our web site. Just click on the Archives link at the top or bottom of this or any page, and you will be able to select the month you missed. We also have several of our more in-depth articles posted on our Resources page.
As always, comments and questions are welcome.
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Quote of the Month
"Tact, the unsaid part of what you think."
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Reminders |
| If you last had your hearing instruments cleaned in July, it is time to get them cleaned this month! |
Assisted Listening Devices |
| For Assisted Listening Devices, please visit our associate's online store. We offer many products, including TV Ears, at competitive prices and shipped directly to your door. Satisfaction guaranteed. |
Referrals |
If you know someone who has been thinking about getting some new hearing aids and benefiting from newer technology, please send them our way. If they purchase a set of digital hearing instruments, we will gladly supply you with 1 free box of batteries.
We appreciate your referrals! As you know, we do not use telemarketing to acquire new customers. We rely upon word-of-mouth and media advertising. Not only will they receive the best care, but we can save them money, too! |
Questions? Comments? |
| Do you have a question, comment, or concern? Do you have a testimonial that you would like us to include in a future newsletter? Please don't hesitate to contact Jim or contact me. |
How to receive our newsletter |
| If you have friends or loved ones who would like to receive our newsletter via email, we will be happy to add them to our email list. All you need to do is have them contact me to provide me with their name and email address. We also have copies of the newsletter in our office if you would like to pick them up here. |
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How to contact us
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Office Hours
Monday thru Friday 9-5
Saturday by appointment only
Address and Phone
816 Beltline Rd
Springfield, OR 97477
Telephone: 541-746-7671
Toll Free: 800-230-1953
Before or after hours, you are welcome to
call and leave a
message on our machine. | |
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