Post by account_disabled on Oct 21, 2023 6:48:35 GMT -5
National Deafness Prevention Day is celebrated every year on November 10th. The date was established by the Ministry of Health Consolidation Ordinance nº. 1/2017, article 527 , as a form of struggle and which aims to educate and raise awareness about hearing health.
But before we talk about the care you should take with your hearing, do you know the scenario of deafness and hearing loss in Brazil?
Current data on deafness and projections for the future
According to a survey carried out by IBGE in 2019 , around 1.1% of the Brazilian population, that is, 17.3 million people, are deaf or hard of hearing .
This number has been growing and this is, in part, due to cell phone number list the aging process. With the life expectancy of Brazilians increasing, which today exceeds 75 years and is expected to exceed 81 years in 2050, the estimate is that 2.5 billion people may develop deafness in the next 30 years around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) .
Although the incidence increases with age, a large part of this population has been living with hearing loss since they were young. 9% of people were born with this condition and 91% acquired it throughout their lives, with half before the age of 50 and a third developing the disability before the age of 34.
Understanding current numbers and projections for the future, what can be done to prevent or delay hearing problems?
According to Unimed's Viver Bem page , a Hand Talk partner whose website is accessible in Libras with our plugin, it is believed that half of all cases of hearing loss can be avoided. Safe exposure to sound stimuli depends on their intensity, volume, duration and frequency.
A level considered harmful by the World Health Organization, for example, is when a person is subjected to sounds with more than 85 decibels (dB) for eight hours a day . This level of 85 dB is approximately equivalent to the noise generated when most students are in a classroom and speak at the same time or even to the noise of heavy traffic .
Contact with loud sound can lead to temporary hearing loss or generate a ringing sensation in the ears. If exposure occurs frequently or for a prolonged period, sensory cells can be permanently damaged, causing irreversible hearing loss. What may at first seem harmless can cause damage that will last forever.
How to take care of your hearing health
In addition to knowing the factors that are harmful to our hearing health, it is important to be aware of what can be done to continue having fun and taking good care of our hearing and maintaining a good quality of life. Some of these actions are:
Use headphones and stereos with volumes below half capacity;
Not playing the sound so loud that you don't hear what's going on around you can harm not only your hearing, but also your attention to the events around you;
Do not sleep listening to music with headphones;
Use ear protectors if exposure to noise above 85 decibels is necessary;
When you are at parties and shows, do not stay close to the speakers;
Look for calm and quiet places and prioritize staying in places like this for as long as possible, using it as a way to rest your ears;
Consult your doctor if you notice signs of hearing loss such as difficulty hearing what people are saying, the need to increase the volume of electronic devices, such as television, or persistent ringing in the ear;
Did you see? There are different ways to preserve hearing health. Raising awareness about these precautions is essential not only on this date, National Deafness Prevention Day, but throughout the year. Always take care of yourself.
But before we talk about the care you should take with your hearing, do you know the scenario of deafness and hearing loss in Brazil?
Current data on deafness and projections for the future
According to a survey carried out by IBGE in 2019 , around 1.1% of the Brazilian population, that is, 17.3 million people, are deaf or hard of hearing .
This number has been growing and this is, in part, due to cell phone number list the aging process. With the life expectancy of Brazilians increasing, which today exceeds 75 years and is expected to exceed 81 years in 2050, the estimate is that 2.5 billion people may develop deafness in the next 30 years around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) .
Although the incidence increases with age, a large part of this population has been living with hearing loss since they were young. 9% of people were born with this condition and 91% acquired it throughout their lives, with half before the age of 50 and a third developing the disability before the age of 34.
Understanding current numbers and projections for the future, what can be done to prevent or delay hearing problems?
According to Unimed's Viver Bem page , a Hand Talk partner whose website is accessible in Libras with our plugin, it is believed that half of all cases of hearing loss can be avoided. Safe exposure to sound stimuli depends on their intensity, volume, duration and frequency.
A level considered harmful by the World Health Organization, for example, is when a person is subjected to sounds with more than 85 decibels (dB) for eight hours a day . This level of 85 dB is approximately equivalent to the noise generated when most students are in a classroom and speak at the same time or even to the noise of heavy traffic .
Contact with loud sound can lead to temporary hearing loss or generate a ringing sensation in the ears. If exposure occurs frequently or for a prolonged period, sensory cells can be permanently damaged, causing irreversible hearing loss. What may at first seem harmless can cause damage that will last forever.
How to take care of your hearing health
In addition to knowing the factors that are harmful to our hearing health, it is important to be aware of what can be done to continue having fun and taking good care of our hearing and maintaining a good quality of life. Some of these actions are:
Use headphones and stereos with volumes below half capacity;
Not playing the sound so loud that you don't hear what's going on around you can harm not only your hearing, but also your attention to the events around you;
Do not sleep listening to music with headphones;
Use ear protectors if exposure to noise above 85 decibels is necessary;
When you are at parties and shows, do not stay close to the speakers;
Look for calm and quiet places and prioritize staying in places like this for as long as possible, using it as a way to rest your ears;
Consult your doctor if you notice signs of hearing loss such as difficulty hearing what people are saying, the need to increase the volume of electronic devices, such as television, or persistent ringing in the ear;
Did you see? There are different ways to preserve hearing health. Raising awareness about these precautions is essential not only on this date, National Deafness Prevention Day, but throughout the year. Always take care of yourself.