Hearing your health

As I mentioned in my "happy news" round up blog, I like it when important health issues make it onto the news agenda. Not the scare stories like "eating cooked food will give you cancer" but the real health stories. So I was really pleased to see hearing, or rather hearing loss, make it on the pages of our national newspapers today. According to an EU Commission study one in 10 people with personal MP3 or CD players could suffer permanent hearing loss because their music is too loud.

It's a story that also appeals to my inner "angry commuter" - just because you want to listen to your music doesn't mean everyone else does, turn it down.

Anyway, this story highlights something really important in that hearing loss is becoming a much younger issue. This isn't just tied to MP3 players, but you can't deny they are a factor. I met with a journalist a while ago who was telling me about his hearing loss, he played in a band and enjoyed going to gigs. When he started missing bits of conversation he just ignored it, after all he was too young to have to wear a big hearing aid.

By the time he finally addressed the problem the damage was done. His only saving grace now is that there is a lot more variety on the hearing aid market today – tiny, funky hearing aids that can be colour co-ordinated with your outfit are the new must-have accessory! - Like this one from Siemens Hearing Instruments (if you can see it!)

And, with organisations like Don't Lose The Music providing a great range of ear plugs, you can still enjoy gigs and make protecting your hearing a fashion statement at the same time.

Couple this with my other favourite hobby horse - education about the bone marrow donation process following on from the late, great Adrian Sudbury, and my parting note is that education about health from an early age is crucial, whether it be our ears, bone marrow, or something else – it’s all too easy to pay lip service to it and think it will never happen to me.