Study says cells cause hearing damage

We suppose it’s the season for releasing scientific studies. Last week, it was one regarding cell phone use and brain function. Thankfully for heavy cell users, there was no correlation found between the usage of the former and the slowing of the latter. However, a new study was released yesterday that might not be music to the ears of heavy cell talkers. The findings were that using a cell phone for more than 60 minutes a day can cause someone to have a “worse hearing threshold than those with less use.”

This specifically applies to those who use a cell phone for more than 60 minutes a day for four years straight. It can lead to high frequency hearing loss.

High frequency hearing loss is characterized by the loss of ability to hear consonants such as s, f, t, and z, even though vowels can be heard normally. Consequently, people hear sounds but cannot make out what is being said, according to the researchers.

We have a couple of problems with this survey. First, only one hundred cell phone users took part, so it’s hardly an accurate sample. Yeah, the researchers may tell you it is, but allow us to offer an analogy in contrast. In baseball, anything can happen over 100 at bats. The worst hitter in the league can hit .400, but hit .150 for the rest of the year. It’s an anomaly. Now, that’s 100 out of about 500 at bats. The study you’re seeing is 100 in what, nearly 70 million cell phone users? Yeah, real representative.

The other problem is that there is no mention, at least in this article, of extraneous factors that might lead to hearing loss. For instance, people who crank music in their car (guilty), musicians who play with drummers (guilty), and people who listen to their iPods at curiously high volumes (guilty).

Are these scientists sure this is caused by mobile phone usage? Yeah, there are control subjects in the study, but maybe people who don’t talk on the phone a lot — or those specific people who don’t talk on the phone a lot — also don’t indulge in other hearing-impairing activities.

We suppose the study is worth noting, but it sounds a bit disingenuous to us.

[FOXNews

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One Response

1. Calling Cards Says
   

   hEARING dAMAGE? The screech my VIRGIN-MOBILE (Goldstar/Kyocera/LG/Sanyo) phone makes when it is turned off is loud enough to get Santa Claus excommunicated.

   
   Posted on March 4th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

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