It is, what?
There is a lively conversation going on, but you are excluded because it is difficult for you to hear what is being said.
This situation is probably familiar to many.
And now, the results of a new study indicate that a very significant proportion of young people around the world will soon be familiar with this scenario all too well.
These people are at risk of both short- and long-term hearing loss, concludes the study, recently published in British Medical Journal Global Health.
Researchers reviewed scientific studies in this area and found that between 670 million and 1.35 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing damage.
Two big culprits
The analysis included data from 19,046 people aged 12 to 34 living in countries with upper-middle wealth. Researchers determined how many of these young people hear noises exceeding 80 decibels for more than 40 hours a week.
Sound levels of 80 decibels or higher are generally considered potentially harmful to hearing.
For comparison: the noise level during a whispered conversation in a library is around 25 decibels.
Traffic noise on a busy road typically reaches 50-60 decibels, and noise in a nightclub or from a drill can exceed 100 decibels.
The researchers looked at two factors associated with hearing loss.
They looked at the noise and volume young people are exposed to when wearing headphones or ear plugs, and the noise level in bars, discos and nightclubs where the music is very loud.
According to the results, 23.8% of young people who turn up the volume on their headphones are in the hearing damage danger zone.
The same goes for almost half of young people who are exposed to loud music in nightlife venues.
The snail’s shell is damaged
The level at which hearing is permanently damaged varies from person to person.
However, one thing is certain: it is dangerous to expose your ears to a high level of noise for a long time.
The snail’s shell (cochlea), in the inner ear in particular, can be damaged.
In the cochlea, sound waves vibrate tiny hair cells connected to nerve fibers. Sound vibrations are converted into signals that travel to the brain via the auditory nerve.
But when hair cells are exposed to noise, they can send out erratic or unclear signals, which can be harmful to hearing.
It may seem incredible that more than a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss for the rest of their lives.
