About Hearing Loss -- Growing Fastest Among Baby Boomers, Yet Largely Ignored
Hearing is essential to full enjoyment and participation in life. Unfortunately, today 1 in 10 Americans — over 30 million people — experience some degree of hearing loss. Hearing loss is the third leading chronic health condition among Americans, after arthritis and high blood pressure.
The Most Vulnerable Generation
Car horns and jet planes. Portable stereos. Aerobics classes. Lawn mowers. Office equipment.
These are all hallmarks of the Baby Boom Generation, the group aged 45-64 that currently makes up the largest segment of American society. They have witnessed, and contributed to, a greater increase in noise pollution than any other generation. And they'll live longer than any who preceded them. These two factors combined make them the generation most vulnerable to hearing loss.
Prolonged or loud noise appears to have overtaken age as a cause of hearing loss in the U.S., at least for the Baby Boomer generation. About 40% of the hearing impaired are younger than 65 — and Baby Boomers themselves are the fastest-growing group to suffer hearing loss today.
Unfortunately, the problem of hearing loss is "growing younger." 15% of recent college graduates have as much or more hearing loss than their parents. And over two million Americans with hearing loss are under the age of 18.
| What are the major causes of hearing loss? 
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