Healthsifter by mary desmond pinkowish, since 2003

Eat Fish to Protect Your Hearing?

Remember the babel fish from A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? It lives. Reporting in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers with the Blue Mountains Hearing Study say that compared with people who ate less than one serving of fish a week, those who ate two or more servings were 42% less likely to develop presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss. The investigators used each person's fish consumption to estimate intakes of omega-3 (n3) polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs, and they also found that the higher the estimated intake of n3 PUFAs, the lower the risk of presbycusis.

This was a decent-sized study group of almost 3,000 people aged 50 years and older that the investigators have apparently been following since 1997. The Blue Mountains Hearing Study is out of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. 

See how the Environmental Defense Fund rates the best/worst eating fish. Read what the Monterey Bay Aquarium says about eating fish in a sustainable way. Find out why cardiologists LOVE fish. Read some yummy fish recipes.  And find out how 70,000 fishermen and women answer the question, "What's the best fish to eat?"

 

The Hearing Loop: Help for the Hearing Impaired

Hey--if you need a hearing aid or know someone who does, check out this story at ScienceFriday about the Hearing Loop. In the podcast, host Ira Flatow interviews David Myers, Professor of Psychology at Hope College about this assisted hearing technology that's very popular in Europe (see logo) and is gaining traction here. This is an excerpt from the written blurb at ScienceFriday:

Think of it like wireless networking for hearing aids. The technology uses an inductive loop to transmit sound signals directly into an in-ear hearing aid or cochlear implant, where it is received by an inductive device called a telecoil. Proponents of the system say it works especially well in public places with background noise, such as train stations or places of worship, as announcements can be transmitted directly to the ear rather than being picked up by an external microphone. The approach also does not require the use of bulky receivers or headsets, as many assistive hearing devices commonly used in the US do. It does, however, require that the listener have a hearing aid equipped with a telecoil for reception."

Be sure to listen to the podcast, because you'll be able to hear the difference between unassisted and assisted listening in noisy public places like airports. Fascinating. 

 

Eat fish? Yeah! Go Fish! GoFishn!

This isn't my usual beat, but I have a great site for you: GoFISHn.com. Like fish? Like to fish? Check out GoFISHn.com, and network with fellow ichthyologically inclined sportspeople. Swap fishing stories, and probably some fishing lies. Swap photos. Pick up tips. What a great encyclopedia they have, with comprehensive information on species, techniques, gear, and locations. Best of all, you can find a fishing guide. Full disclosure: This site belongs to my brother, and that's a great thing! The guy was born with gills. 

 

Hearing Loss is #1 Disability Among US Military Personnel Returning from Iraq, Afghanistan

The US Department of Veterans Affairs says that hearing loss is the leading disability among US military people coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. A total of 58,000 veterans are receiving disability payments because of hearing problems, and another 70,000 have tinnitus, or constant ringing in the ears. The entire report is available from the National Academies Press.