Hearing loss happens to be a hidden disability, so it doesn’t get the financial or political support that other handicaps get from private organizations and the government. However, hearing loss happens to be the top disability in today’s day and age and the top birth defect in babies. Because of this, hearing restoration would be of the utmost essence.
What begins as a problem of hearing ends up becoming a long-lasting problem when it comes to communication. If you have never been able to hear, you will never know what actual words sound like, making you unable to speak. Without speaking, you will not be able to hear, read or write, so how is communication going to be possible? The only way to solve this would be through hearing restoration.
If you combine problems of birth defects with hearing loss and hearing loss as we get older, a major problem occurs. Since this problem is hidden, it will never go away.
Gene Pankey is one person who has been handicapped with hearing loss. When he heard about the research that was underway for hearing restoration through the re-growth of hair cells in the inner ear, he realized that the best way to tackles this worldwide problem would be by addressing a worldwide organization. The Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration started a few decades ago and worked at getting rid of polio, which they have almost reached.
Handicapped ever since childhood due to an ear’s complete hearing loss, Pankey became a victim of episodes of hearing loss even in his good ear. This sent him into a realm of people involved with hearing restoration research in Seattle.
So far, research has shown that birds can spontaneously re-grow their hair cells of the inner ear, effectively working at hearing restoration. This research offers the chance of hearing restoration in mammals, in general, through hair cell regeneration. After all, birds have the ability to do it. Pankey is set to try and educate Rotarians, as well as help them raise tens of millions of dollars for support on this program of research.
Today, Rotarian members all around the country, as well as various other countries, are working on videos on hearing loss and the initiative for hearing restoration, distributing them all over the world. Updated versions of their videos are also being worked on while fundraising continues to go on without delay and many more planned efforts are going as planned.
Rotarian members have also joined up with other forces dedicated in recognizing the achievements of those suffering from hearing loss, as well as teaching people all about hearing loss and hearing restoration and reducing hearing loss problems from arising.
Although the funds for hearing restoration research are still far away from the actual goal, any donation can help. The year 2006 showed matching funds that covered half a million, while the year 2007 showed matching funds for a million dollars in donations. There are still hopes that education campaigns and publicity in enough funding that lets research move ahead faster. Hearing loss doesn’t have to be a hidden matter. If we recognize it, we could soon unlock the key in hearing loss and overall hearing restoration .
