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Close to 1 out of every 2 Americans age 75 or older has some degree of hearing loss, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
Hearing loss that is related to age is called presbycusis. It commonly affects people older than 50, and those with presbycusis are more likely to lose some of their hearing each year, the NIDCD says. Presbycusis can occur because of changes in the inner ear, auditory nerve, middle ear, or outer ear. In addition to aging, loud noise, heredity, head injury, infection, high blood pressure, and certain prescription drugs also can cause presbycusis.
Government public health officials say that hearing problems that go untreated can get worse. And older people who can't hear well may become depressed and withdraw from others to avoid being frustrated or embarrassed about not understanding what is being said. It's also easy for those who hear normally to mistakenly label those who can't as "confused" or "uncooperative."
Experts at the NIDCD and at the FDA say there are treatments, devices, and strategies that can help. For the latest on helping to prevent and treat age-related hearing loss, see our cover story titled "Sound Advice About Age-Related Hearing Loss."
Medical historians say that the first transplant operation was carried out in 1823 when a German doctor placed skin from a woman's leg onto her nose. Today, surgeons routinely perform medical transplant operations to place tissue or organs into the body of an injured or sick person, often to save a life.
The nation's tissue banks distributed more than 1 million tissue grafts in 2003, according to the American Association of Tissue Banks. The expanded use of tissues and the emergence of new infectious diseases raise new safety concerns. Those concerns have prompted the FDA to strengthen its regulation of the human tissue industry. For the latest on the FDA's oversight of human tissues and transplants, see our feature article titled "Keeping Human Tissue Transplants Safe."
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been revised every 5 years since 1980 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. The guidelines provide advice for people ages 2 years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.
The latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines places stronger emphasis on reducing calorie consumption and increasing physical activity. For more on the guidelines, see our article titled "Healthier Eating."
We also take a look at the FDA's concern over laser pointers and the misuse of these potentially dangerous devices, soothing relief for the scratchy discomfort of a condition called dry eye, and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt's vision of a revitalized FDA drug safety program.
Raymond Formanek Jr.
Editor