Laugh at Hearing Loss? National Hearing Day Celebration

Online, April 13, 2010 (Newswire.com) - According to the Hearing Loss Association (www.hearingloss.org), approximately 1 in 1,000 newborns (or 33 babies every day) in the U.S. are born profoundly deaf with another 2-3 out of 1,000 babies born with partial hearing loss, making hearing loss the number one birth defect in America. Add to those defects an assault on our ears from industry and recreation and we have a major problem: communication. Children with hearing loss have difficulty in speaking, reading and learning in general. Their hearing ability starts off low and then like the rest of us it gets worse.

Loud noise jobs, shooting, and rock and roll have done their damage on me. Information from the National Institutes of Health (www.nlm.nih.gov) reveal that about 32.5 million people in the United States have a hearing loss. That estimate is up by 2.5 million from just a few years ago.

Exposure to excessive noise causes approximately 30 percent of all hearing loss yet this type of hearing loss is preventable. If I had only known . . . or cared. When you're younger you assume your body will always bounce back. Somewhere along life's dateline, the bouncing turns into crashing and the insults to our bodies turn to injury . . . and the injuries don't heal . . . but they do multiply.

Dr. Edwin Rubel of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington is trying to reverse the trend of hearing loss. Dr. Rubel discovered that birds can re-grow injured hair cells of the inner ear. Loud noises can destroy the hair cells, but birds can grow them back and restore hearing. Dr. Rubel and his associates are searching for the key to turn on re-growth of hair cells in humans.

On May 12, 2010 at the Old Country Buffet in Lakewood's Towne Center, Dr. Rubel will reveal his latest discoveries during the Eat, Laugh, and Learn Fundraising Breakfast and celebration of National Hearing Day, which is being presented by Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration.

Appearing with Dr. Rubel will be Kathy Buckley (www.kathybuckley.com), nationally- known comedian out of Los Angeles. It was only in the second grade that people realized that Kathy had hearing loss. She bills herself as "America's First Hearing Impaired Comedienne." Kathy will talk about her own hearing loss and about overcoming obstacles in life. Her humor is infectious and so funny. "I haven't had a date in three years. I don't know if I haven't heard the phone ring, or what."

The breakfast gathering will mark the first fundraising event sponsored by Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration, which was started by Clover Park Rotary and led by Rotarian Gene Pankey. Known for his successful used car business, Gene's own hearing loss is the embodiment of both birth defect and noise induced hearing loss. He understands and believes we can create a hearing world. Funds from the event will help with hearing loss prevention education and hearing regeneration research.

For details of the event, please visit www.hearingregeneration.com. There will be live closed captioning and assistive hearing devices available.