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Clinical leadership and management: developing world ENT

I have been asked to share some of the initiatives I have been involved with to address ENT-related challenges in Africa and the developing world. Developing countries constitute the majority of the world’s landmass (Figure 1), are home to >50%...

Exploring teenagers’ access and use of assistive hearing technology

Children require good signal-to-noise ratios for optimum listening and learning. The use of remote microphone technology can be of benefit, yet older children often resist using it. Jennifer Groth reviews the challenges facing older children in the use of remote...

The power of mentoring

What is a mentor, and what are the benefits for mentee and mentor? Emma Stapleton and Rohma Abrar, mentor and mentee respectively, explain. The term ‘mentor’ is derived from Homer’s Odyssey, in which the goddess Athena, disguised as Mentor, guides...

Genomic testing for deafness and its implications

Gene therapies for hearing loss are rapidly advancing and will be transitioning to clinical practice. Here, the authors explain why clinicians involved in managing these disorders need to be aware of these advances. Genomic testing in England was significantly reconfigured...

St Blaise - patron saint of the throat

In a previous article, we looked at some interesting legends surrounding patron saints of the ear and hearing [1]. As we celebrate the Feast Day of St Blaise of Sebastia on 3 February, we hear some fascinating tales and myths...

St Æbbe the Younger of Coldingham, patron saint of the nose

Stories of the saints are often rather dark and unpleasant – and this is certainly the case with St Æbbe, as we hear from our roving historian, John Riddington Young. In two previous articles, we have discovered the fascinating stories...

Cochlear implant referral: how can we do better?

Considerable progress has been made over the last few years in improving access to cochlear implantation (CI) in the UK for children and adults with severe to profound deafness. But we are still not treating children early enough, and we...

Adult hearing screening: consideration for a holistic model

Background Adult-onset hearing impairment is a highly prevalent and undertreated chronic problem that poses a significant burden of disease worldwide [1]. It is usually gradual and diagnosed and managed approximately 10 years after adults have first experienced hearing difficulties [2]....

Dizziness: confusion, issues and considerations

Douglas L Beck gives his unique take on the difficulties involved in diagnosing dizzy patients and the importance of well-founded research acting as the basis for any diagnosis and treatment decisions. Dizziness. Uh-oh. We really have a very limited understanding...

What’s new in protecting hearing?

Preventing an avoidable hearing loss before it begins would be the public health dream. In this article Kathleen Campbell takes us through one option that is showing the potential to fulfil that ambition. Kathleen explains the development of a preventative...

Plasticity with cochlear implants: individual factors in the outcomes

Andrej Kral gives us an overview of neuronal plasticity in congenital hearing loss, and discusses why it is core to our clinical interventions in hearing loss and rehabilitation. The brain is born immature and undergoes extensive shaping during early development....