THE PROMISE OKONKWO'S BLOG- HappilyHearingAfter

Hearing, Speech Disorders in Children can be Detected in Pregnancy    How do your children react each time you call them?  Do you know that ignoring your calls sometimes may be sign or beginning of a medical condition in the child? In the views of a professor of Speech and Hearing Rehabilitation, and President, Speech Pathology and Audiology Association of Nigeria, SPAAN, Professor Julius  Ademokoya,  there is need for parents not to misinterpret their children’s  refusal to answer their calls as stubbornness because it may signal dangers of hearing disorder.  Ademokoya said many Nigerian children have continued to suffer undetected and untreated hearing and speech disorders due to ignorance on the part of parents. He advised that when such disorders are diagnosed, particularly after their second birthdays, therapeutic interventions are likely to yield less result than if administered earlier. Ademokoya warned that it is dangerous for ...

Headache? Google to offer better symptom search results Yellow discharge. Scratchy throat. Sore knee. Millions of searches on Google — in fact 1% of all searches — are to look up symptoms such as these.   Yet, too often, diagnosis by Google isn't all that reliable. Google is rolling out the new feature over the next few days in English in the U.S. to make it easier to get a more accurate list of health conditions that could be causing your symptoms. Ask Google about a symptom, say "headache on the side," it will show you a list of related conditions such as migraine, tension headache or sinusitis. Ask about "headache," and you'll get an overview of the health conditions plus information on how to treat the headache and whether you should see a doctor.

Man runs marathon weeks after heart surgery If running a marathon was easy, everyone would do it. The 26.2 mile race is strenuous for anyone, especially for Paul Sykes. He ran one just weeks after heart surgery. Born with a bad heart valve and Paul Sykes knew someday he’d have to have it replaced. “I was getting a lot of pain, chest pain,” said Sykes who loves to run. “One day I went home after a run, and I fainted, which was the point at which I realized that surgery was not very far away,” Sykes said. Just four weeks after his heart surgery, Sykes happily laced up his running shoes. For Sykes, the real proof of victory came when just a few months later he crossed the finish line at the New York City marathon. He said he felt great pride and joy.

7 things to know about the Zika virus A rare tropical disease is spreading in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. The mosquito-borne Zika virus usually causes a mild illness but is now suspected in an unusual birth defect and possibly other health issues. Some things to know: WHAT IS ZIKA? The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947; its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered. It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It showed up in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands. HOW IS IT SPREAD? It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. It is not known to spread from person to person. Investigators, though, are expl...

Zika infections late in pregnancy led to no defects in study  NEW YORK -- Women infected with the Zika virus late in their pregnancies had babies with no apparent birth defects, according to a study in Colombia that seems to confirm that the greatest risk to infants comes early in pregnancy. But the study also found troubling cases of severe birth defects in babies born to women who never realized they had contracted Zika. "You're not out of the woods if you don't have symptoms," said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University infectious diseases expert who was not involved in the research. Ever since a Zika virus outbreak in Brazil was linked to severe birth defects late last year, health experts have been trying to understand when developing fetuses are most vulnerable and whether fetuses are at risk if the mother is infected but never experiences symptoms. Of 1,850 Zika-infected pregnant women the authors tracked, about a third caught the viru...

Young hearing impaired musician wins 'Yes I can!' award    Teen Nikita Austin plays piano, flute and steel pan. What’s remarkable is that Nikita, 14, is deaf. She doesn’t hear the music with her ears, she hears it through vibration. Nikita takes music lessons at the Regent Park School of Music, an inner city program that provides a musical education for disadvantaged young people and those who live in challenging circumstances. Nikita was given an award as an exceptional young person who inspires others with her determination. She told a reporter that when she was younger, other kids used to laugh at her. She has “found” herself through her music. She finds fulfilment in her music. Her mom, Maria, urges her always to dream big and not to let anything stand in her way. So even though Nikita has only 25% hearing in one ear and 2.5% in the other — and her hearing is deteriorating — she doesn’t let that hold her back. Nikita wears hearing aids in both ears. ...

This Miss USA contestant overcame losing her hearing to compete for the crown   During Sunday night's Miss USA competition, one contestant is challenging the stereotype that the biggest challenge pageant contestants face is choosing a swimsuit or walking in heels. Just before her fourth birthday, Miss Pennsylvania’s Elena LaQuatra was a precocious young girl who spent her free time performing in singing and dancing troupes. Then, bacterial meningitis struck, claiming her hearing in both ears and affecting her major organs, leaving doctors unsure about whether she'd be able to walk unassisted again. Given the choice between teaching their daughter sign language and taking a chance on the then-fledgling Cochlear implant technology, LaQuatra's parents opted for the implant. And fast forward to 2016, and LaQuatra, a born-and-raised Pittsburgh native, is representing her state at Sunday night's pageant. "Based on my personality, my...

Hearing aids may help keep hearing-impaired older adults mentally sharp In a study of 137 older adults with major hearing loss, 1139 with moderate problems, and 2394 with no hearing trouble, hearing loss was significantly associated with greater cognitive decline scores at the start of the study and during a 25-year follow-up period. Participants with hearing loss, but not those with hearing loss who used hearing aids, had greater declines in cognitive function during follow-up compared with controls. The results are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society .  

Students design low-cost otoscope to help diagnose hearing loss in developing countries   According to the World Health Organization 360 million people in the world suffer from hearing loss. A large portion of those affected live in developing countries, particularly South Asia, Asia Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa. Experts say at least half of all hearing loss cases are avoidable through primary prevention. In developing countries, however, primary prevention is hard to come by. That is why a group of students at Texas A&M University has designed a low-cost otoscope that when plugged into a smartphone, can take photos of the inside of the ear. The group, members of Texas A&M's chapter of Engineering World Health, has designed and built a model LED otoscope that it is submitting to the national organization's design competition. The group's hope is that its design could be turned into a kit for easy production around the world. Robert Hunt, de...