Feature Article:::...

High-profile people bring awareness to hearing loss

By: Danielle Combs

Even high-profile people live with hearing loss. This includes former United States presidents, generals, and successful businessmen.

Former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both suffered from hearing loss. Ronald Reagan attributed his hearing loss to gunfire on movie sets while filming many Western movies during his days as an actor in Hollywood.

He became the oldest president elected to office and the first to be fitted with hearing aids while in office. His hearing loss was diagnosed by the House Ear Institute in California and hearing aids were recommended. He was fitted with a hearing aid for the right ear in 1983 and later with one for the left ear in 1987. He became a spokesman for the Better Hearing Institute in the 1990s.

His hearing loss and use of hearing aids received wide media coverage. He greatly increased public awareness of hearing loss as well as the public’s subsequent increased demand for hearing aids.

Like Reagan, Bill Clinton also suffered from hearing loss. Unlike Reagan, Bill Clinton was the second youngest president in history, and the youngest president to be fitted with hearing aids.

Bill Clinton’s hearing loss was attributed to his saxophone playing, as well as his rock concert and marching band attendance. He was fitted with digital hearing aids in each ear in 1997. After he was fitted with hearing aids, 1 million other baby boomers identified themselves as experiencing hearing loss.

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, renowned former military leader is also one of nearly 30 million Americans who have hearing loss. His hearing loss is attributed to noise exposure. Much of his noise exposure occurred while firing on the rifle range without the use of earplugs, as well as while he was a paratrooper. He also experienced noise exposure from a tank that blasted while he was standing next to it.

His resultant hearing loss is an asymmetric hearing loss. This means the hearing loss in each ear is not the same. Because he is a left-handed shooter, he has more hearing loss in his right ear due to increased exposure to the barrel of the weapon.

He has been fitted with a hearing aid for the left ear. Schwarzkopf believes the hearing aid has helped him in both professional and personal situations.

Successful businessman Vinton Cerf, who is referred to as one of the “fathers of the Internet,” also has hearing loss and has worn binaural hearing aids since age 13. He was senior vice president of Internet technology for MCI WorldCom and most recently served as vice president of Google.

He has been awarded the National Medal of Technology, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. He has published more than 50 technical articles and is in demand as a speaker. He has served on the board for Gallaudet University and supported computer building programs for Deaf students.

He remains committed to issues of people who have hearing loss, and he delivered the keynote address at the Hearing Loss Association of America’s annual convention this year. His wife is also Deaf and was fitted with a cochlear implant.

World political, military and business leaders have sought treatment for hearing loss even in the public eye.

If you know someone who needs treatment for hearing loss, but is hesitant to take the next step, remind them of what famous shoes they could fill and help them on the road to better hearing.

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Danielle Combs is a clinical audiologist who staffs The Hearing Center at Holston Valley Medical Center. E-mail her at danielle_combs@wellmont.org