Study: 30% increase in teens with hearing loss

I wonder if the numbers are going up because the screening is getting better. Doesn't look like hearing aid manufacturers or audiologists have to worry about a lack of customers.

Excerpt from the study

" The type of damage found by researchers conducting the study isn't usually associated with exposure to loud noises, although doctors aren't ruling out blaring music as a possible cause. Some audiologists say the causes may be related to an increase in certain genetic disorders, for example, or the fact that premature babies, who are often more susceptible to hearing loss as they get older, have better survival rates than ever before.
Whatever the reason, 30 percent more of today's teenagers have some level of hearing loss compared with their peers in the late '80s and early '90s, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One in 20 youths between the ages of 12 and 19 has enough damage that it may impact the ability to listen and learn.
"That's a huge jump in hearing loss," said Dr. Lawrence Lustig, director of otology and neurotology at UCSF. "You really need to start doing some much more intense testing on these kids" to determine what is causing it, he said."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2FMN4B1EVC81.DTL#ixzz0wzN7Dsqs

Study: 30% increase in teens with hearing loss Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2FMN4B1EVC81.DTL#ixzz0wzF9BFN8