Easy listening.Byline: Elizabeth CooneyCOLUMN: QUICK TAKES WORTH KNOWING Turn it to the left, kids. The volume on your MP3 players, that is. That's the name of a campaign launched by the American Academy The American Academy in Berlin is a non-partisan academic institution in Berlin. It was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent Americans and Germans, among them Richard Holbrooke, Henry Kissinger, Richard von Weizsäcker, Fritz Stern and Otto Graf Lambsdorff and opened in of Audiology audiology /au·di·ol·o·gy/ (aw?de-ol´ah-je) the study of impaired hearing that cannot be improved by medication or surgical therapy. au·di·ol·o·gy n. , which cites research estimating that one in eight children - or 5 million - suffer from noise-induced hearing loss noise-induced hearing loss Temporary or permanent hearing loss caused either by a single exposure to very loud sound(s) or by repeated exposure to louder sounds over an extended period. See Hearing loss. . It can be prevented by lowering the volume, as in turning the volume dial it to the left. "The hearing loss kids experience now will accelerate the hearing loss normally associated with aging when these kids are in their 60s and 70s," Alison Grimes, president of the American Academy of Audiology and head of the Audiology Clinic at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , said in a statement about the effort. "Hearing loss is the third most common health problem in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and affects more than 31 million Americans. With the Turn it to the Left campaign, we hope to educate kids to turn down the volume and prevent hearing loss before it begins." If the noise is coming from a source other than their personal music systems, kids can walk away or use ear plugs, she advised. For more information, go to www.turnittotheleft.com or www.audiology.org. ART: PHOTO |
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