Hearing Loss – More Common Than We Are Lead to Believe

 Health & Medicine, Well Being  No Responses »
Dec 012011
 

(Guest article)

It is estimated that over 35 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. The most common type of hearing loss is age-related hearing loss; and as the population within the western world is expected to live longer; it stands to reason that there will be even more cases of age-related hearing loss.

In this article we will take a closer look at the two most common types of hearing loss, age-related and noise-induced hearing loss. The purpose of which is to create more awareness to this type of disability and to detail various options for those with hearing loss to consider.

Age-Related Hearing Loss

Within the cochlea of the inner ear, tiny hair cells are tasked with transferring information contained within incoming sound to the nerve fibres responsible for transmitting this information to those areas in the brain which deal with our sense of hearing.

When these hair cells deteriorate or are damaged due to the natural ageing process, hearing loss may occur. The level of hearing loss will vary from one person to the next depending on the severity of the damage and other conditions that may also be present within the ear. Age related hearing loss is not exclusive to the very old. Deterioration in hearing ability can be observed in some individuals as early as their 40s. In most cases, the hearing loss takes place as a gradual deterioration over a number of years, and is often ignored until the effects become very noticeable to others.

There is currently no cure for age-related hearing loss. Individuals diagnosed with this type of hearing loss can use a number of devices to manage the effects of the loss, but the underlying hearing loss will be permanent. The inner hair cells essential within the hearing pathway do not regenerate once damaged. The most common device used is a hearing aid, a mini-computer housed in a variety of styles that can amplify external sound and deliver this sound into the ear canal of the wearer. Other popular options are called ‘assistive listening devices’ that amplify sound for specific applications such as from home or cell phones; doorbells; alarm clocks or the television.

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

When it comes to noise induced hearing loss, although area of pathology also involves the hair cells of the inner ear, the cause of the deterioration/damage is from an external source. Prolonged exposure to harmful levels of noise can destroy the hair cells. The level of resultant hearing loss will greatly depend on the duration of exposure, closeness to the noise source and the level of noise.

Those diagnosed with noise-induced hearing loss are usually provided with the same options as those with age related hearing loss. Emphasis however should also be placed on prevention of further hearing loss. In the workplace, employers often take a combination of steps to reduce the risk of hearing loss. The most common being pre-emptive steps in the form of noise level assessments, introducing clear guidelines and safety procedures, wearing hearing protection and giving employees access to regular hearing tests. In our private lives there are no ‘government regulations’ to follow and no laws to adhere to. To avoid damage from noise, individuals should use hearing protection and refrain from placing themselves in noisy situations without due care and attention.

Hearing loss that is simply ignored can lead to other problems. These well-documented issues include social exclusion and reduced interaction with others, feelings of embarrassment, anxiety or even depression; all contributing to diminished quality of life. To relieve any concerns about possible hearing loss, a hearing test should be done. This test is relatively quick and non-invasive.

Joan McKechnie BSc Hons Audiology & Speech Pathology at hearing aids company Hearing Direct. You can read her blog for more information on hearing loss.

To Baby Boomers Who Want To Retire But Have To Start Over!…There’s Hope!

 Commercial, Finances  No Responses »
Aug 052011
 

Does this resonate with you? Has this recession economy kicked your financial butt? Well you are not alone, not by a long shot.

Hi, my name is Tim Cronin. I am 58 years old. I was just like you. If you’re one of the Baby Boomer Generation who’s hurting right now the purpose of this article is to show you a way out. We Baby Boomers listened to the advice our parents gave us, didn’t we? You know, they told us to get a good education, go to college, get a good job, work really hard, put money away for retirement and then we would live happily ever after. Am I right? Then what happened?
We did all the things we were supposed to do only to be screwed by Corporate Greed and Government Incompetence! Through no fault of our own, the Baby Boomer Generation was pushed over the proverbial cliff! Millions of Baby Boomers have reached the age when they were planning to retire but cannot because they are BROKE!

Are you among the masses of Boomers who are unemployed? Or are you “under-employed”? That is, working a job that pays drastically less than you are accustomed. If you are in your late 50’s or 60’s and been laid off, who’s going to hire you? You can be easily replaced by a twenty-something with awesome computer skills that will take the same job for half the salary! Has your 401K Plan turned into a 201K plan? Has your stock portfolio lost most of its value? Are you being forced to foreclose on your home? The odds are that you are among the 80% of Baby Boomers who cannot make it to retirement because you simply do not have the resources or the means.

So how do these Baby Boomers start over?

Let me confess. I was one of these people. I got lost my high paying job over two years ago. One day I was called into the HR Managers office and BAM! They whacked me. Some trumped up B.S. about reorganization and cost cutting, blah, blah, blah. Twenty years of my blood, sweat and tears and they kicked me to the curb. I was devastated. It quickly became apparent to me that I was not going to get another job that would pay me what my lifestyle required. It was time to go to Plan B. Lucky for me I had managed a large Information Technology company, which enabled me to acquire an intimate knowledge of the power of the internet! So I decided that I would take that knowledge and learn everything I could about internet marketing. So I spent every waking hour absorbing as much as I could about making money with a home based online marketing business!

The good news is that I cracked the code! I figured out how to earn a great income using the latest and greatest internet marketing tools like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Affiliate Marketing and much, much more! And the GREAT NEWS is that I am going to teach what I’ve learned to you! My Mission is to help Baby Boomers like me to recover financially by tapping into the most powerful money making invention in the history of mankind: THE INTERNET!

Most of what I’ll show you is FREE! And what’s not free is very low cost! And you don’t need advance computer skills! All you really need is access to a computer with an internet connection, some time, a coachable mindset, and a BURNING desire to learn and succeed! I’m going to show and teach you My Plan B!

Sound too good to be true? Yeah, maybe. But it is going to require A LOT of hard work! But we Baby Boomers are used to working hard right? I can’t guarantee that you’ll be successful. But I promise you I will be dedicated to helping you in any way I can!

Are you ready to get started?

Step # 1-    Click on this link: Your Plan B_ Fill in the opt-in box with your information. You will receive 7 FREE videos about starting an Affiliate Partner internet marketing business. (I’m not going to ask you to join a MLM company!)

Step #2-    Visit My Blog: http://thevaluemarketingcoach.com Read some of my blog posts and sign up for all the free video trainings! Read the post about Affiliate Online Marketing!

Step # 3-   Go to my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/valuemarketingcoach.com When at my FB page click on “Like”. If you don’t have a Facebook account yet you NEED one! It’s required for you’re internet marketing education and success!

Step # 4- Email me: tim@thevaluemarketingcoach.com and we’ll get you started on a plan to build an Affiliate Partner Marketing Business!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Become A Person Of Value,

Tim Cronin
The Value Marketing Coach

Television, Even the Good Shows are Beginning to Suck!

 Entertainment & Sports  No Responses »
May 112011
 

Forget the fact that inane reality shows and talent contests have polluted the TV landscape, leaving very little prime time slots for good entertainment, but recently, even the shows that I like to watch are beginning to suck.  The only TV I watch real-time is news programs and some sports.  But I enjoy recording many shows on my DVR and watching them at my leisure.  These include things like the CSI programs, the NCIS programs, Criminal Minds, Fringe, the various Law & Order shows, and several others.  I like interesting shows with believable plots and stories.  However, when the storytellers for a good show get lazy and do not take the time to keep things believable, or even let things get to the point where they are insulting the intelligence of the viewer, it pisses me off.

One disturbing trend is the need of a couple of these series to create super villains with unrealistic luck and abilities.  The original CSI has gone down this path with this Haskell character.  I was just watching the episode that takes place in LA, and had to shut it off and delete it from my DVR.  The plots are contrived with a combination of impossible luck and cunning on the part of the villain, and unbelievable stupidly on the part of the main characters.  The same thing happened with Criminal Minds with Emily and her enemy from the past.  Sudden stupidity which is uncharacteristic for the main characters, along with super abilities and luck for the villains are just cheap tricks to try and make the episodes more sensational.  The stories and entertainment value is lost because of this.

CSI Miami has been doing this for quite a while.  In their competition to out do each other in sensationalism, mane of these good shows are screwing up and falling into the pit of stupidity!  So far, the NCIS shows have maintained most of their quality.


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Over 90 and Loving it – PBS Documentary

 Well Being  No Responses »
Apr 192011
 

From the site:

This documentary features people in their 90s and 100s who are living extraordinary and passionate lives. Filmmaker Susan Polis Schutz has interviewed some of the most incredible people you can imagine – people who aren’t aware of chronological age at all, but live as though the future and youth spring eternal.


Generation Alzheimer’s

 Well Being  No Responses »
Apr 062011
 

Alzheimers is the defining disease of the Baby Boomer generation. This Alzheimers Association site is a source of news and reports on Alzheimers. The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research

 


Credit Reporting is A Scam

 Finances  No Responses »
Jan 062011
 

Let’s see…  The credit reporting companies gather our personal financial information, and then sell it to anyone who will pay for it.  They make a profit doing this.  Yet, if they make a mistake, it is up to us to get it fixed, with very little help from them.  If they sell information about us that is incorrect, and that causes us great harm, they are not responsible for that harm.  Sounds like a big scam to me.  And even worse, if we want to see the information about us that they have gathered and are selling, just to make sure it is correct, we have to pay for it!!

Their product is our financial information.  The quality of their product, and any harm their product does, is not their responsibility!  What other industry can get away with that?

BB

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It is not a Negative to Change One’s Mind

 Thoughts  No Responses »
Oct 292010
 

It seems to be human nature, when arguing or discussing something, to resist changing one’s mind or altering an opinion. Being wrong about something simply means that we have the wrong information or are missing some information. No one ever purposely holds an opinion that they know is incorrect. To deceive, someone may say they hold an opinion that they know is incorrect, but part of the deception is that they do not really hold the opinion. An argument or discussion should not be about making the other person agree with you, but rather about sharing information and getting new information so that both parties to the argument can discover the truth and come to agreement.

But it seems that most people are reluctant to give up their position, and feel defeated in some manner if new information is revealed that invalidates their position. Instead, one should rejoice in the gained knowledge, and be happy that they are no longer going around defending a false position. Of course, some subjects are emotional, and those subjects are usually things that really have different desired outcomes, so the facts do not matter as much. If the differences involve what should be, as opposed as to what is the way to get to what should be, then mere facts about getting there will not be relevant. Discussions about religion and morals and values are usually like that.

Here We Go Again!

 Politics & Religion  No Responses »
Sep 252010
 

The massive assault on on lives that are political ads during an election has begun.  I’m sitting here writing this morning and I had to get up and shut the TV off.  Nearly 100% of the commercials during the local news broadcast were political ads.  In the space of 30 minutes, I heard the same commercial five times!

There is so much wrong with how this is done that it is insane.  First and foremost, there are no validity rules being applied.  “Truth in advertising” does not extend to political ads, especially those paid for by private organizations and individuals.  And now that the US Supreme Joke (court) has perverted Freedom of Speech by giving it to corporations (thus removing limits on spending for political campaigns), the flood gates are wide open.  Voters are besieged by lies and deceptions and mud-slinging of the worst kind.  It is almost impossible for voters to become informed without doing a whole lot of research and investigation themselves.  That is something most voters do not have the time and resources to do, and something they should not have to do.

I believe that most Americans hold the right to vote as a sacred right.  It is correct to say that the right to vote comes with a obligation to become informed, but the ability of all Americans to become informed is being subverted, blocked, twisted, and manipulated on a massive scale by massive, deceptive and outright false ad campaigns, backed by big money.  There is no doubt that this is a violation of our right to vote.  The act of voting is not what this right is about.  It is about our right as Americans to choose those by whom we will be governed so that we can choose those who will better our lives.  You can take away that right either by not letting us vote, OR by deceiving us into voting against our best interests instead of for our best interests.  Freedom of speech should not, and can not, be extended to the point where it violates our right to vote.

There are several ways to fix this problem.  Some of these are practical and some are radical, but something has to be done!  First, how about changing campaign finance laws so that all private or corporate political campaign donations are designated to the race, not to the candidates?  In that way, the donations can be divided equally between the candidates, and no single candidate has the ability to lie more than the other?

Second, why can’t “truth in advertising” regulations be extended to political advertisements?  If someone trying to sell us a product or service, they cannot make claims that are blatantly false, why can politicians who are trying to sell us their services lie through their teeth?  Also, if one candidate is smeared with lies and deceptions from the other candidate, thus ruining his or her reputation and chances to be elected, why cannot that candidate sue the other for libel and/or slander?

On a more radical note, we could stop the lies and make all our television lives much better during elections if it were illegal for any candidate to talk about opposing candidates.  Simply limit their talking to be about the issues and themselves.  No more mud-slinging!  No more endless accusations and scare-tactics!  Life would be sweet!

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4060men.com

 Relationships  No Responses »
Sep 182010
 

4060men.com is a site that hopes to inspire and connect the millions of men in North America and around the world who find themselves single, in midlife and charting a new course for the future.

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