The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Early detection will make treating hearing loss easy'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Early detection will make treating hearing loss easy'

Staff Reporter

Statistics say one out of every 20 persons in the country suffers from hearing impairment

FOR A CAUSE: Former cricketer Syed Kirmani with hearing impaired children at a seminar in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: A conclave-cum-seminar on "Hearing Loss in Children" was organised by Widex India Private Limited here on Tuesday.

The conclave dealt with early detection of hearing loss; early intervention with the provision of hearing aids and cochlear implants and also on the rehabilitation of hearing impaired children after they have been provided with amplification.

According to statistics, one out of every 20 persons in India face hearing problem.

The panellists included A.K. Lahiri, Head (ENT); Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Shankar Medikeri, ENT surgeon; Jagdish Chinappa, Paediatrician; and Saji Maruthurkara, Senior Audiologist.

Also present were T.S. Anand, Managing Director, Widex India, and Mads Prebensen, Regional Manager, Widex-Denmark.

The chief guest was Syed Kirmani, former cricketer and brand ambassador of Widex. The panellists laid emphasis on the facts, causes and remedies of hearing loss/hearing impairment in children and what measures should be taken for their rehabilitation.

The panellists stressed that early detection of the impairment in children is important to facilitate easier treatment. "Parents find it hard to accept that their child is hearing impaired and postpone treatment," Dr. Medikeri said.

"People should also realise that it is a serious issue if a child does not response to sound in the first 18 months." Though there is no specific reason for hearing impairment, there are certain high-risk groups that are prone to this.

Consanguineous marriages, premature birth, diseases such as jaundice and typhoid, improper administration of drugs and congenital abnormalities, may be the causes. Technology is now available to detect hearing impairment in infants through "Brain wave response" or also by behavioural observation of audiometry.

Hearing aids can be used in children as early as six months. Merilyn, a prematurely born baby, now aged two, has been using hearing aid for the past one year.

Cochlear implants are electronic devices that are used to overcome the damage caused to the inner ear or "cochlea". The panellists stressed that speech therapy is equally important for such children.

Syed Kirmani, who started using Widex Digital hearing aid after sustaining an injury, said it was important to wipe out the social stigma attached to loss of hearing. "We will conduct more awareness programmes that would help nullify the misconceptions attached to hearing impairment," he added.

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