Roundup: Hearing Loss is Now No. 3 Chronic Health Issue, CDC Says; Eating Whole Grains Tied to Weight Loss in New Study

Hearing Loss is Now No. 3 Chronic Health Issue, CDC Says

Hearing loss is a chronic condition that is more common than most people realize, according to surprising new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Almost twice as many people report hearing loss as report diabetes or cancer, the CDC said in a new report. It is the third most common chronic health condition in the US.

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults who report excellent to good hearing already have some hearing damage. The new survey also  found that nearly 20 percent of people in their 20s already have some hearing loss.

The cause of the hearing loss may not necessarily come from having noisy jobs, such as those in the construction industry. More than 1 in 2 U.S. adults with hearing damage from noise do not have noisy jobs, the CDC says.

“Being around too much loud noise — like using a leaf blower or going to loud concerts — can cause permanent hearing loss,” reads a statement from the CDC. “And once it’s gone, you can’t get it back! You can have hearing loss before you even notice you’re having problems.”

CDC says that hearing gets worse over time the more often people are exposed to loud sounds. More findings:

• About 53 percent of people ages 20-69 who have hearing damage from noise report no on-the-job exposure.
• About 24 percent of people ages 20-69 who report having excellent hearing have measurable hearing damage.
• About 20 percent of adults with no job exposure to loud sounds have hearing damage.

The CDC is encouraging healthcare providers to “ask patients about exposure to loud noise and trouble hearing, and examine hearing as part of routine care.”

Related article:

• Can You Hear Me Now? Help for Tinnitus

Eating Whole Grains Tied to Weight Loss in New Study

Switching from refined to whole grains can bolster metabolism and help you lose weight by reducing caloric intake, a new study has found.

Whole grains basically help you reduce the amount of calories that are retained during digestion, according the new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,.

Previous studies have found that whole grains and high dietary fiber consumption are beneficial in the metabolic process, including insulin sensitivity, which helps prevent diabetes.

There has been broader debate, however, about whether whole grains and fiber are beneficial for weight management. That’s because there hasn’t been data from controlled metabolic studies.

For the study, researchers recorded the weight, metabolic rate, blood glucose, fecal calories, hunger and fullness for 81 men and women, between the ages of 40 and 65, over an eight week period. People in the study who ate a diet with whole grains, which matched the recommended U.S. dietary allowance for fiber, “lost close to an extra 100 calories per day from a combination of increased resting metabolic rate and greater fecal losses” — compared to people who ate refined grains without much fiber, researchers said.

“We provided all food to ensure that the composition of the diets differed only in grain source. The extra calories lost by those who ate whole grains was equivalent of a brisk 30 min walk – or enjoying an extra small cookie every day in terms of its impact,” said senior author Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., senior scientist and director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s HNRCA (Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging).

The study was conducted at the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University.

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