(1888PressRelease)
August 16, 2007 - Iain Clarke of Edinburgh has been living with tinnitus for almost twenty years. He can’t stop the constant sound in his head. Both his ears are affected by the symptom. The 34-year-old wonders if he was predisposed to it because his father also suffered from tinnitus. As he learns to live with it, Iain hopes for more funding to research the causes and cures of tinnitus.
As a teenager, Iain was working on a construction site when he accidentally got too close to some dangerously loud hammering without protection for his ears. The result was tinnitus in his left ear. About five years later, it was the right ear that took the aural battering when he got too close to an excited spectator shouting at a rugby match.
His left ear is worse than his right, but he has adjusted to the symptoms and can forget about the continuous humming for most of the time. But working for a consultant company in the construction industry, precautions are necessary for on-site visits.
“I’m a happy person for most of the time, and I don’t really suffer from depression. But I know people can get down due to tinnitus and I’d like to help sufferers in any way I can,” says Iain. “I went to see an ENT specialist once to check the affected sound frequency in my ears but I was told there wasn’t much that could be done. I knew after a few days of constant ringing that I had tinnitus. My dad already suffered from tinnitus and my aunt is a nurse, so they knew about it,” recalls the Scotsman.
“I wonder sometimes if my father and I were predisposed to tinnitus in any way, or if the symptoms are hereditary. More awareness of the effect of loud noise is needed; I don’t think people know enough about it. I suppose tinnitus is not perceived to be a serious issue despite its ability to disrupt sleep and cause anxiety and depression,” adds Iain.
The UK-based charity Action for Tinnitus Research focuses on funding medical and scientific research in pursuit of a cure and raising awareness is a key part of its work. Operations director Nick Doughty said: “It is estimated that over five million people in the UK are affected by tinnitus and it can have a devastating effect on their quality of life. Not enough information is available about the very complex symptom and we are one of the few organisations determined to do something about it. We are committed to funding leading edge research and providing practical information to health professionals for the benefit of sufferers,” he added.
For more information on Action for Tinnitus Research, logon to the website at
www.tinnitus-research.org, e-mail help ( @ ) tinnitus-research dot org or telephone 0115 925 4065
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