Evening star., 1924-05-30
Would Protect Ears.
Writer Urges Society to Conserve
Nations Hearing.

To the Editor OF 4 he star.
A conservation of hearing society
should be organized to promote a ma
tion-wide movement to eliminate the
causes and conditions that precede
loss of hearing; and to awaken all the
people to a realization of how Grip
pling a calamity is the invisible and
unnecessary disaster of loss of hear
ing, and how insidious its growth In
adults One of the clubs in this city
strives to promote the social and eco
nomic welfare of the hard of hearing.
1t is doing excellent work in alle-
Waiting the results that follow loss or
hearing. The proposed society shouId
earnestly strive to eliminate the causes
that make such clubs necessary.
During the past sixty years, Ameri-
cans have expended more than a
hundred million of dollars in alleviat-
ing the results OF loss or hearinsi;
in eliminating the causes that pro-
duce the need for alienation! In
other words, eliminate the possibility
of our country ever becoming a ma
tion of hard of hearing people.
How many hard of hearing peophe
are there? The writer knows of no
comprehensive reliable statistics. One
physician stated that so per cent OF
| all the people had defective hearing
| in one ear if not in both. Another
ably he was more nearly correct.
Ear specialists believe that the
cause and conditions that precede loss
! of hearing in 75 per cent of the new
cases would be eliminated within ten
years; and that the remaining %
| per cent could be eliminated by con-
| tinuous cooperative effort on the
| part of all the people during period
of about 100 years.
Granted that few of the present
generation will be here hundred
years hence. Nevertheless 1t seems as
| wise to conserve the man-power OF
| the nation as to conserve the material
| resources. movement to conserve
| hearing would primarily be a move
| ment to conserve the man-power OF
| the nation.
| Ear specialists believe that rs per
cent of all ear troubles might have
been avoided had medical aid been
sought in the beginning. Hence, one
| of the first efforts of a conservation
| of hearing society might well be to
encourage periodical examinations OF
/ the ears. 1t is recorded that sixty
years ago there were only four ply
sicians in the United States qualified
/ to properly diagnose and treat all
| ear troubles. Now there are thous-
ands of physicians competent to test
and treat the ears; and there are hun
dredS of ear specialists.
Within the past twenty years more
| than million mechanical or electri-
| cal aids to hearing have been sold
| That is, more than a million legiti-
| mate devices have been purchased by
! the hard of hearing at cost esti-
mated to exceed thirty millions OF
| dollars. And that sum does not in
| clude the money wasted in buying the
fake devices denounced by the Amer
lean Medical Association.
| Less than twenty years ago a So
ciety was organized in New York to
| aid in promoting the welfare of the
hard of hearing. 1t was the first or
ganization of its kind in the world
| Now there are SO many such societies
. that they have national fedora
ton. And the third annual confer
ence of that federation will be held in
the auditorium of the Medical Society
| of the District of Columbia the first
week In June.
Ten years ago it was possible tc
| find the advertisements of six schools
| where hard of hearing adults could
| learn to read the lips. Now it is an
easy ca y,Iasa matter to find the efadyertisement
indicates that there are many adults
who are necessarily dependent upor
some aid tor substitute for-hear-
ing; and that our country has a gooG
start toward becoming a nation OF
words, during many years there has
been steady growth in effort to al.
Ieviate the rapidly increasing need
| of alleviation.
| Why not start a movement to elimi.
nate the causes and conditions that
mate the causes that precede loss q,
hearing will be to conserve the man.
FRED DELAND.