The World Health Organization has a warning: 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to listening to their music too loud and spending too much time in noisy venues.
WHO analyzed data from studies in "middle- and high-income countries" and found that almost 50 percent of people between 12-35 are exposed to unsafe sound on their personal audio devices, and 40 percent are exposed to potentially damaging levels of sound at bars, nightclubs, sporting events, and other entertainment venues. "As they go about their daily lives doing what they enjoy, more and more young people are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss," Dr. Etienne Krug, WHO director for the Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention, said in a statement. "They should be aware that once you lose your hearing, it won't come back. Taking simple preventative actions will allow people to continue to enjoy themselves without putting their hearing at risk."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why does the GOP want to ban state-level AI regulation for a decade?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION House Republicans are pushing to block states from making their own AI laws for the next ten years, even as expert warn the results could be disastrous.
-
6 elegant Queen Anne Victorian homesFeature Featuring original diamond-glass doors in New York and a registered historic landmark in Arkansas
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
