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JOURNAL
Sound advice for preserving
your teenager’s hearing
C
hances are, your teenagers had their ears pierced today—by loud
noise.
Sources of high-decibel, ear-piercing sound abound—think
MP players, video games, even all-terrain vehicles. No wonder
noise-induced hearing loss is on the rise among the young.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated
. percent of U.S. kids ages to have permanent hearing damage from
excessive exposure to loud noise.
To help protect your teens, bend their ears about preserving their hearing:
Explain the risks.
At top volume, an MP player delivers
decibels of
sound. So does a rock concert. At that level, hearing loss can happen in as few
as minutes.
Look at the possible culprits.
Consider the sources of loud noise your teens
may encounter both at work (gas-powered lawnmowers and leaf blowers) and
at play (movies, o -road vehicles, musical instruments and MP players).
Discuss protection.
Some suggestions include lowering the volume on
MP players or taking a break every tunes, and popping in a pair of earplugs
when attending a concert or using loud equipment.
With some preventive measures, your teens will keep hearing you—even
when they don’t seem to be listening.
Sources: American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery; American Academy of Pediatrics; Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
Respite care
can give you
a needed break
If you’re like most caregivers, you’re jug-
gling lots of tasks related to your loved
one’s well-being.
But as good as you are at meeting those
needs, you may be dropping the ball in one
vital area: your own care.
Of course, it’s not always easy to nd
time for yourself, and that’s where respite
care can help.
Respite care is a way to give yourself a
brief break from caregiving. Some people
use the time to handle errands and other
duties, such as shopping or seeing their
doctor or dentist. But you can also use the
time to exercise, visit with friends or family
members, or just take it easy.
Whatever you do, you’ll know that with
respite care your loved one is being well
cared for while you are away.
Respite care may come from family
members or friends or it may involve vol-
unteers or paid help. Professional support
can include in-home care, adult day care
or overnight residential services.
To nd out what’s o ered where you
live—and the costs involved—talk with
your doctor.
You can also contact the U.S. Admin-
istration on Aging’s Eldercare Locator
at
- -
, or you can visit
their website at
www.eldercare.gov
.
Additional source: Alzheimer’s Association
SMOKERS AFFECT KIDS’ SCHOOLING
Exposure to cigarette smoke can harm chil-
dren’s health. Now at least one study has
found that it can also affect their educa-
tion: Kids who live with smokers miss more
school than kids from smoke-free homes.
Researchers analyzed the results of
a nationwide survey given to adults who
had children living with them. The survey
asked about the general health of the
kids, the number of smokers in the home
and how many school days the kids
missed in the past year due to illness.
Compared to kids from smoke-free
homes:
Kids living with one person who
smoked indoors averaged one additional
day absent from school.
Children from a home with two or more
people smoking indoors averaged one
and a half extra days absent from school.
In addition, illnesses linked to being
around tobacco smoke, such as ear
infections and chest colds, accounted for
at least 25 percent of absences for kids
who lived with an indoor smoker.
Pediatrics,
Vol 128, No 4
SOUR NEWS ABOUT SWEET DRINKS
Drinking a 12-ounce, sugar-sweetened
beverage every day increases a man’s
risk of heart disease by 20 percent com-
pared with men who avoid sugary drinks,
according to results from a major study.
Past research has linked sugary
drinks to weight gain and type 2 dia-
betes. But studies looking for similar
connections between these beverages
and heart disease—the leading cause of
death in the U.S.—have been limited.
This study involved 42,883 mostly
Caucasian men, ages 40 to 75. The men
lled out regular questionnaires about
their diet over a span of 22 years.
Researchers analyzed the data and
found that the men who drank a sugary
beverage daily were at greater risk for
heart disease even after other factors—
such as smoking, body fat and physical
inactivity—were taken into account.
Circulation,
March 12, 2012, DOI: 10.1161/CirculationAHA.
111.067017
e challenges
of aphasia
Imagine that you want to say, “ ere
are two plates on the table.” But all you
can manage is “plate plate two table.”
And even getting these words out takes
e ort.
is is what it can be to live with apha-
sia, a disorder that robs people of their
ability to communicate. Aphasia can make
it di cult to express oneself when speak-
ing or to understand what someone else
is saying. It can also a ect the ability to
read and write.
Not a disease
Aphasia isn’t an illness
or a disease, but a symptom of damage
to areas of the brain that are responsible
for language.
O en that damage is caused by a stroke
or head injury. And in these instances,
aphasia happens suddenly. But it may also
be triggered by a brain tumor or dementia
and develop slowly.
Di erent types of aphasia include:
Wernicke’s aphasia. In this type of
aphasia, people may speak in long sen-
tences that make no sense. Typically, they
also have trouble understanding speech.
Broca’s aphasia. Here, people usually
speak in short sentences that make sense
but require tremendous e ort. ey tend
to omit small words such as
is
,
and
,
the
or
I
. However, they generally understand
what others are saying fairly well.
Global aphasia. People have severe
communication disabilities and may be
very limited in their ability to speak or
understand language.
Sometimes, people with aphasia will
completely recover without any treatment.
But most people need speech and language
therapy, which should start as soon as pos-
sible a er aphasia develops.
Source: National Institutes of Health
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