Speak Up, I Can’t Hear You

Married White Men who ride in convertibles with the top down are prone to hearing loss. Looks like I will be putting a few coins away for my eventual hearing aid/cochlear implant. I’m NOT putting the top up.

From CNET here.

Researchers this week revealed the results of some demographics studies of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), something they say had yet to be studied to this extent. If you’re a married white male driving a convertible, listen up while you still can.

One study, which analyzed the audiometric testing data from 5,290 people ages 20 to 69, finds that more than 13 percent suffer from some level of NIHL, which means some 24 million Americans might as well. The strongest association they found is gender, with men being 2.5 times as likely as women to develop NIHL. Among men, those who are married (too much nagging?) and white (they specify “non-Hispanic”) are at the highest risk.

Another study looked at drivers who ride in convertibles with the top down on a regular basis. Researchers say that long or repeated exposure to noise above 85 decibels can result in permanent hearing loss; in the convertibles they studied going 50, 60, and 70 miles per hour, drivers were consistently exposed to sounds between 88 and 90 decibels–due to noise associated with road surfaces, traffic congestion, wind, etc.

I think scientists tried to run some tests on bikers but were too intimidated by the dirty looks they received when they tried to put anything in their ears.