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Ear disorder linked to psychological problems

More than one-fifth of people diagnosed with the ear disorder tinnitus suffer from severe psychological problems including moodiness, insomnia and depression, a study by Chinese University has found.

Causes of the tinnitus, commonly known as ringing in the ears, include stress, long exposure to a noisy environment and a problem in the brain's temporal lobe.

Conducted from 2007 to 2008, the survey assessed the emotional health of 114 chronic tinnitus sufferers who sought help from the audiology clinics of Prince of Wales, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern and Yan Chai hospitals. Some 70 per cent of them had hearing impairments and the median age of the patients was 52.

Some 21.1 per cent of the subjects were classified as having emotional problems and experiencing difficulty in continuing their daily habits.

The university's department of otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery translated in 2008 a survey of 52 questions developed by a British psychologist. It analysed the psychological effects of tinnitus on patients.

Professor Michael Tong Chi-fai said it was the first time a psychological assessment tool was available for Chinese-speaking patients. Based on overseas studies, Tong estimated that more than 200,000 local people suffer from moderate to severe forms of tinnitus.

He said tinnitus was generally incurable. 'While some cases are caused by damage to the ear, a majority of cases are induced by [abnormal activity in] the brain. The brain sends out wrong audio signals even though there's no sound in the environment. Patients who are conscious of the ringing are always obsessed with it, which induces the part of the brain that sends out the wrong signals to be even more active and worsens the ailment.'

Treatments such as sound generators are used on sufferers.

As today was National Ear Care Day, held annually in China since 2000, Tong hoped the study could make people pay more attention to the health of their ears.

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