MYTH: Hearing loss happens only to old people.
Roberta Singer
TRUTH: 40 percent of the 48 million Americans with hearing loss are younger than 60. Hearing loss does accelerate with age though. Almost 30 percent of those between ages 50 and 59 suffer from some degree of impaired hearing in one or both ears; 45 percent of people between 60 and 69 have impaired hearing; and three-quarters of those older than 70 do. (Craig Newman, Ph.D., AARP The Magazine, June/July 2015)