HEARING LOSS:  

People of all ages, including children, teens, young adults, and older people, can develop noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Approximately ten percent of Americans between ages 20 and 69 or 22 million Americans already may have suffered permanent damage to their hearing from excessive noise exposure. Exposure occurs in the workplace, in recreational settings, and at home. Recreational activities that can put someone at risk for NIHL include target shooting and hunting, snowmobile riding, woodworking and other hobbies, playing in a band, and attending rock concerts. Harmful noises at home may come from lawnmowers, leafblowers, and shop tools. (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

•  Hearing loss costs the nation $56B per year in loss productivity, retraining and health care for the hard of  hearing. (Center for Disease Control)

•  One in four individuals will develop a permanent hearing loss as a result of their occupational and recreational exposure to noise hazards. Noise-induced hearing loss is the most common occupational disease and the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury. (National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety)

• One in four individuals will develop a permanent hearing loss as a result of their occupational and recreational exposure to noise hazards. Noise-induced hearing loss is the most common occupational disease and the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury. (National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety)

• Approximately 15% of Americans between ages 20 and 69?or 26 million Americans? have high frequency hearing loss that may have been caused by exposure to loud sounds or noise at work or in leisure activities.
  (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

• In addition to military personnel, other occupations particularly under risk for hearing loss due to noise exposure are: firefighters, police officers, factory workers, farmers, construction workers (mining and energy), heavy industry workers, musicians and entertainment industry professionals. (Better Hearing Institute)

• Following a modest 6% annual expenditure increase trend, the Department of Veterans Affairs alone will spend an average of $750M annually to treat hearing loss as a result of the individuals? military career.  That will equate to $85, 616 every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.  (ABG & US Navy Report to TTI)

BALANCE DISORDERS:      
     

The biochemical and micromechanics between the auditory system and the systems that control balance (vestibular system) are closely interdependent. The vestibular and auditory nerves join in the auditory canal and become the eighth cranial nerve of the brain.  Anything that disrupts auditory information can also affect vestibular functioning.   Blocked eustachian tubes in the inner ear, for example, create mild balance problems.  Because of those interdepednancies, the management believes that the discovery work accomplished through our primary focus of hearing loss may, by extension, be applicable to discovery of theraputics for balance disoders. The following citations illustrate the magnitude of the growing problem.

• From 2001 through 2004, 35.4% of US adults age 40 years and older (69 million Americans) had vestibular dysfunction, which contributed to balance disorders. Colledge N, Lewis S, et al. Magnetic resonance brain imaging in people with dizziness: a comparison with non-dizzy people. ( J Neurol Neurosurg Psych. May 2002; 72 (5): 587-589. Vestibular Disorders Association)

• Approximately four percent (almost 8 million) of American adults report a chronic problem (lasting three months or longer) with balance. (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Strategic Plan (FY 2006-2008). June 12, 2009.