I attended my first large convention in 1986, the SHHH National Convention in Stanford, California. Not many young adults, maybe eight, or nine of us. We agreed to forego an afternoon session to meet by ourselves for impromptu sharing. We sat outside, and forgot about the convention inside. I remember getting thirsty, but afraid to miss a single word, I didn't dare leave to get something to drink. I was talking to hard of hearing people my own age!

Fast-forward to 2008, to the CHHA-IFHOH Congress 2008 in Vancouver, British Colombia (the 8th World Congress of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People co-sponsored with and organized by the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association.) I was catching up with a friend from that day in 1986 when a young man stopped to chat with us. We told him our story and he said he'd been born that year. I was struck by how much had changed in the intervening years for young adults with hearing loss.

Enough young adults attended this conference so they didn't need to feel they stuck out like sore thumbs. Young adults attended all sessions, including some tailored specifically to them. Two young women made a presentation at the opening plenary session. Unlike me at that age, they all seemed comfortable with their hearing losses and who they were.

The 2008 Congress started with an alphabetical roll call of the 27 countries represented at the conference. Beginning with Bangladesh, the countries included Guatemala, Kuwait, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and ended with the United States. One of the great pleasures of the Congress was sitting next to someone new, not knowing whom I'd be meeting. I met people from Canada, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, and I can't remember where else. We all had hearing loss in common, or an interest in hearing loss.

The workshops were varied, and sometimes I agonized over having to choose between two or more going on at the same time. I learned about the latest in hearing aid technology research, cell phones, and hearing aid compatibility. One workshop, titled, "Hard of Hearing People in Time of Crisis and Emergencies,” informed us of problems and lessons learned from Northern Israel and Hurricane Katrina. One suggestion for our "emergency evacuation" kit was to include a copy of one's latest audiogram, which makes perfect sense in retrospect, but I'd never thought of it before.

Every session had at least one – and usually two – large screens available for CART. Many sessions had one more screen for CART in Japanese, for the large contingent of Japanese delegates.

Workshop leaders and moderators worked hard to make the information accessible to all. Paper pads and pens were available at every table in every session. When a delegate at the first workshop I attended complained that the placement of the microphone in the middle of the room impeded the view of the CART screen for those in the back, a change was quickly made to walk the portable mic to those wishing to speak. That became the standard protocol in all the sessions.

I loved the camaraderie, walking around downtown Vancouver and the food at the conference-sponsored lunches and banquet was delicious. The exhibition hall allowed me to try out various Bluetooth accessories, and buy hearing aid batteries at a good price. The silent auction was well attended, but alas, I didn't win anything I'd bid on.

The next IFHOH Congress – held every four years – will be in Norway. My roommate is already saving her pennies.

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The Development of Medications to Minimize and Prevent Hearing Loss
By Bernard Kabacoff

Mr. Kabacoff comments on the article “Compound has been shown to counter noise-related loss” by Terry Somers, Union-Tribune.

Sound has energy. If it didn’t it couldn’t reach your ear. In your inner ear sound energy is converted to electric energy. At this point nerves, called “Auditory Nerves”, take over. If all goes well they will act as living wires and carry the electric message to your brain. Overloading of sound, called “noise,” causes blocking the auditory nerves; the more the noise, the more the blocking, also the more the aging, the more blocking! Finally the more the blocking the more the hearing loss!

This is the background for a significant cause of hearing loss. I’m sure you have heard of antioxidants. Most of them will reduce hearing loss to some extent. (Picking the “best” is not the object of this report.)

Why is there such a drive to produce these medications?

We are in a recession which promises to get worse. Since hearing aids are vastly more expensive than these medicines, it’s likely purchase would be the medicine (see below).

The pharmaceutical companies have become powerful. They spend a fortune on advertising. Their TV advertising program brings in the medical doctors and is very effective. They have good research labs and are quite familiar with work of other laboratories. You pointed out recently, that are 31 million people who have hearing loss; not a poor market!

The “Hearing Pill”

There is a project of the U. S. Navy to prevent hearing loss resulting from noise of warfare. This is not new. Research on medication to prevent and minimize hearing loss has been going on for 12 – 15 years. The Navy is spending 2.54 million dollars on this job and about 2,000 of their troops. The Federal Food and Drug Administration has already approved N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) as the test material for the Navy project. The name of this medication is “Hearing Pill” because it is made in pill form to pop in the mouth just before battle to protect hearing from the destructive effect of the noise. Dr. Ben. J. Balough, Navy Captain and otolaryngologist at Naval Medical Center at San Diego, is the boss of this great and publicized project. It is quite interesting to see the many advertisements Balough’s acetyl-cysteine have generated.

[Type “acetyl-cysteine” on Google and look at “sponsored links.” You will find 18 ads from 18 companies.]

What we can do?

The HLAA leaders that are responsible for the business aspect of our organization must be aware of what is going on in the hearing loss medicine business. We should be ready before a product is on the market so that we can deal with the appropriate people in the pharmaceutical companies sufficiently early. Being aware of the research being done on these medicines would be an advantage. It might be useful to discuss the possible negative reaction of Hearing Aid people. This may develop . . . financial resources to support the HLAA mission and program activities.

I have spent half my life working with pharmaceutical companies advising on development. I was Research Advisor for the Revlon companies, until I retired. I am volunteering pro tem because I am 86-long-years- old. I am sure we can find volunteer replacements.