reported
by: Mr. Christopher Yap
Secretary (Term
1998/99)
On Friday, 5 March 1999 at 7.00pm,
6 members and 10 guests of the AES Singapore Section gathered at Touch
Community Theatre to listen to a talk on "Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)
in Audio Professionals" by Dr K A Abraham. A medical doctor and an Ear,
Nose, Throat (ENT) Surgeon, Dr Abraham was Head of the ENT Department, Tan
Tock Seng Hospital and the Deputy Head, ENT Department, Singapore General
Hospital (SGH). He is currently in private practise at clinics at Mt
Elizabeth Medical Centre and East Shore Hospital.
In the opening address by Mr Jibby
Jacob, the Chairman of the AES Singapore Section noted that this is the
first time we are having medical doctor as our speaker, and that he is
warmly welcomed.
| At 7.45pm, Dr
Abraham began his talk by giving an introduction to the basic hearing
functions of the ear. He noted that modern living introduces higher
levels of intensity of sound, leading to the problems of deafness in the
population. In Singapore alone, an estimated 10% (250,000) of the
population suffer from some form of deafness, and among these, 50% do
not seek medical treatment for their problem. He then elaborated on the
fact of how hearing enables us to experience the most vital stimulus of
our human life, the human voice. |
Dr Abraham in a
joyous mood - photograph by Christopher Yap |
Dr Abraham briefly introduced the
many parts of the human ear after defining hearing disorders and its
consequences. There are basically three types of hearing damage, the
conductive hearing loss, which is repairable, the nerve hearing loss, which
is irrepairable, and a combination of the two. He then went through the
causes of the various types of hearing loss, and also presented various
methods used for investigating hearing impairment, the latest being Electric
Response Audio(ERA), which measures brain waves arising from sound
stimulus.
Regarding cases of NIHL, Dr
Abraham observed that the loss is usually bilateral and symmetric, with the
earliest damage reflecting loss at 3kHz to 6kHz, with the maximum loss
centering at 4kHz. Maximum loss is reached in in 10 to 15 years if noise
exposure is continued. As for prevention and treatment of NIHL, Dr Abraham
advised to discontinue the exposure to the noise, or to reduce the intensity
of the noise at the source. If the above is not possible, hearing protectors
would have to be essential items, either in the form of earplugs or
earmuffs.
|
16 members and
guests of the AES Singapore Section posing for a group photograph after
the talk by Dr. K A Abraham (4th from right) at Touch Community Theatre
- photograph by Christopher Yap |
The meeting ended with a question
and answer session where many questions about our ear and hearing were
clarified. The AES Singapore Section would also like to thank their fellow
committee member, Mr. Robert Soo, Technical Director of Touch Music, and his
colleagues for the use of the community theatre and their kind assistance
during the meeting. |
