1 in 5 Americans have more than selective hearing loss

According to the latest research, one in five Americans (20 percent) suffer from some degree of hearing loss. This isn't the kind of hearing loss that affects homework, housework, and honey do's, but rather serious, permanent hearing loss in millions of Americans.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the report, more than 40 million Americans over age 12 have difficulty hearing in one or both ears. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers believe that the way Americans listen to music is a major culprit.

Many people don't realize they are damaging their ears, until many years later because hearing loss is almost always a gradual process. Headphones pipe music directly into the ear canal, where the sound waves damage sensitive hairs that are used to transmit vibrations to the brain. In the brain, these vibrations, transmitted by electricity, are interpreted as sound. Fewer of these hairs means impaired hearing.

Doctor Frank R. Lin, lead author of the study and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said, "Aging and genetics do sometimes play a role, but what we know now is that environmental exposures - like listening to music too loudly - can contribute to long term hearing damage over time. It's a growing concern. The tricky thing about loud noise exposure is that most people won't see the impact for many years later, so consumers aren't aware they are damaging their hearing until it's too late."

Experts have not yet determined how much loudness ears can take before permanent damage is done, but they believe that listening to music at a mere 85 (decibels) dB for prolonged, repeated times is enough to cause permanent hearing damage. Listening to that same music at 100 dB for just 15 minutes can cause hearing loss.

The bad news: Most people listen to their music at 115 dB.

Doctors recommend that people use headphones that rest outside the ear rather than inside it, and that they turn the music down a notch or two.

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