Yelp for Noise

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/yelp-for-noise

By Patricia Marx
Oct. 1, 2018

•••••

Gregory Scott Farber described the app he created, SoundPrint, as “Yelp for noise.” The free program allows users to search for and grade restaurants and bars according to their sound level. “Places are getting louder,” Farber, who is forty-two, said. “People tell me, thirty or forty years ago you could go somewhere to eat and expect to have a conversation.”

•••••

1.1 Billion Millennials Are at Risk for a Condition Linked to Dementia

Of course, it's not just millennials who are affected. Plenty of older people have damaged hearing from loud music, power tools, etc.

https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/billion-millennials-at-risk-for-condition-linked-to-dementia/?fbclid=IwAR1uoC53Xl20r08UhcCVbJyFQCWf6XbGMcs9ieJ0iFaxQyOtYsN1Me7_Mwo&utm_campaign=Oticon+People+First+%28US%29&utm_content=&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Carrie Madormo

When you think about hearing loss, you probably picture someone in the later years of life. But research suggests that even people under 40 should be wary: The World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion millennials worldwide are at risk for hearing loss most likely related to “extensive use of personal listening devices.” Studies show that nearly 50 percent of young adults ages 12 to 35 are cranking the volume in their earbuds to dangerously high decibels.

•••••

Worse yet, hearing loss may be linked to dementia. “Research currently shows a relationship between hearing loss and dementia—that is, people diagnosed with dementia have a higher prevalence of hearing loss, and the more severe the hearing loss, the greater the degree of dementia,” says Laurel Christensen, PhD, chief audiology officer at GN Hearing. “While the underlying cause is not completely known, there is enough of a relationship between hearing loss and dementia to warrant the monitoring of one’s hearing sensitivity,” she says.

•••••

Earplugs unavoidable for musicians in the orchestra and at home

Public Release: 22-Nov-2017
Earplugs unavoidable for musicians in the orchestra and at home
TU Eindhoven study shows that own instruments are often responsible for excess noise levels
Eindhoven University of Technology

Many musicians suffer ear damage. Professional orchestras have therefore taken measures in recent years to reduce the sound levels. Studies now reveal that physical measures, like placing screens between sections or creating more space between them, have little effect. This is due to one's own instrument contributing just as much to the sound level that reaches the ear as all the orchestra's instruments together. So experienced musicians that play alone at home - whether professionals or amateurs - also produce excessive sound levels. The only solution that really helps is earplugs.

The eardrums of trumpet players and flute players are the most burdened. During loud passages they are subjected to average decibel levels of 95 to 100 dB(A), just from their own instruments. The violin and viola produce decibel levels in excess of 90 dB(A) for their players. These levels are similar to those of a rock concert. They also well exceed the 85 dB(A) limit that European regulations stipulate for the compulsory wearing of ear protection on the work floor.

•••••

The only thing that really helps is to play more quietly or to use earplugs. Musicians have long been advised to play using earplugs but now it has been proven that there is no other feasible measure that can be taken.

Wenmaekers, himself a musician, realizes that this is not really what the doctor ordered. "A musician with poor hearing risks losing his job. So to avoid this, earplugs are inevitable. At the same time, you want to perform as well as possible, so earplugs may hinder this. Musicians will have to get used to playing with earplugs from a young age because once you have a hearing problem you are too late."

There is, however, one part of the orchestra that can get away with it in part, the cello and the bass sections. These instruments produce a relatively soft sound and thus present no risk by themselves. The sound that affects the ears of the cellists and bassists tends to be generally lower and comes mainly from the other orchestra sections. So for this group there may be other interventions that are effective apart from earplugs.

•••••

Diplomats in Cuba suffered traumatic brain injuries, records show

My neighbors attack me with noise in the audible range. Don't know what kind sound their music creates outside the audible range.

http://thehill.com/policy/international/347641-diplomats-in-cuba-suffered-traumatic-brain-injury-records-show

By Rafael Bernal - 08/23/17

U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba suffered mild traumatic brain injury and likely damage to their central nervous system in an incident that has been linked to a sonic attack.

Medical records said doctors had discovered signs of the damage after patients complained about hearing loss, nausea, headaches and balance problems, CBS News reported.

More than 10 U.S. and 5 Canadian diplomats in Havana began experiencing "a variety of physical symptoms" in the fall of 2016, according to the State Department.

The symptoms have been traced to a sonic attack — a deliberate use of a sonic device operating outside of the audible range — on diplomatic residences in Havana.

Cuban authorities have vowed to investigate the injuries amid pressure from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Some diplomatic tours of duty have also been cut short as a result of the incident.

•••••