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Personal music systems are causing hearing loss

Sitting next to a teenager on a train with their iPod turned up loud enough for the entire carriage to hear is annoying, most will agree. Perhaps I might educate them about the risks of ‘music’ (if you can call...

Cystic fibrosis – sinus surgery delays chronic Gram-negative lung infection

This prospective clinical follow-up study is of 106 patients with cystic fibrosis in Copenhagen. Morbidity and mortality in CF are significantly associated with pulmonary colonisation and infection, usually with Gram-negative bacteria. Initially this can be well treated with antibiotics until...

Marshmallows for swallowing assessments!

The complaint of ‘food sticking in my throat’ is one many of us will have heard several times in clinical practice. The authors of this study report the prevalence of this symptom to be between 5-8% in the general population...

Radiation-induced dysphagia in head and neck cancer

This is a helpful reference paper that provides an overview of the biomolecular effects of radiation on the tissues of the upper aero-digestive tract. The authors explain that radiation injuries occur in a repetitive and accruing manner over the duration...

Alcohol consumption and the risk of developing benign laryngeal disorders?

Alcohol consumption among South Korean adults is apparently high, with over three quarters of the adult population consuming alcohol and a ‘high-risk’ drinking rate of one in five. Excessive alcohol consumption is considered to be a risk factor for developing...

Audiologists’ perspectives on their ability to address hearing, social and emotional adult patient needs

Authors suggest there is little evidence that hearing technology addresses patients’ emotional concerns related to their lived experience of hearing and communication difficulty. The study explores the notion of audiologic counselling and discusses the role of audiologists in supporting the...

Vascular disease and sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Oussoren et al performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of current literature on the above topic: specifically, cardiovascular risk factors for developing idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL), the presence of white matter hyperintensities in patients with iSSNHL and the...

Inequitable access to cochlear implantation across the UK

Referral rates and uptake of cochlear implantation in the global adult population are low. Five audiology centres across England and Wales retrospectively explored data over a six-month period in late 2019, post implementation of new National Institute for Health and...

Can prediction models help identify dysphagia in ventilated patients?

Dysphagia commonly affects patients in intensive care units (ICU), particularly those on mechanical ventilation, and is associated with high risk of mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify predictors for dysphagia in ventilated ICU patients by summarising existing...