Does Wearing Headphones Increase the Amount of Bacteria in your Ears? Asked by Ahmed from Surrey

With so much information around the web about earpiece’s it is hard to find the top and most candid information. here is a piece from a good website that i believe to be veritable, do not quote me on it but please read and enjoy

Hi Ahmed, how’s it going?

So, the short answer to your question is that anything you put in your ear will increase the bacteria levels present, simply by sheer dint of the introduction of a foreign object to your ear. You can consider this to also be true for cotton buds, earplugs and, of course, your index finger. Microorganisms tend to reproduce well in hot and humid environments and the ear, like the mouth and nose, certainly have all the right conditions for a germ-orgy of sorts (sorry for the image).

It has been said that using headphones increases the bacteria levels in your ears over 700 times.

To whatever degree this somewhat alarming statistic is true or false is, quite frankly, virtually impossible to determine. Put simply, there are just too many variables in the equation. Issues arise like ‘how many other people have used the headphones (are they shared devices like audio museum tours)?’ ‘How much bacteria is in the average person’s ear in the first place?’ or even ‘where are the headphones stored when not in use?’

All of these questions (and many, many more) would need satisfactory answers before we could start picking our way toward a definitive answer. According to our old friend Cecil Adams of http://www.straightdope.com, the ‘700 times’ factoid has its origins in a 1992 study in which experts measured bacteria found on 20 headsets of the type used by commercial airlines. According to Adams, the amount of microorganisms present on the ��phones increased by 11 times, not 700 (as is often reported). A year later, the New York Times ran an article that is, according to Adams, the root of the old ‘700 times’ bit.

However, it should also be said that many different kinds of bacteria are vital to living organisms like us and, at any given time, there is an almost indescribably huge level of bacteria operating in your body. Yes, there is an increase in your in-ear bacteria if you use headphones, but it’s really not much different from the bacteria levels you encounter in your day-to-day life.

You may worry that this increase in bacteria can be damaging to your health (that is, after all, a reasonable concern). However, unless you suffer from regular ear infections, or any other easily aggravated ear-related ailments, the answer is a pretty definitive ‘no’.

Maybe if you dangle your headphones in the toilet before use, or get a flu-riddled relative to cough on them, you may have some trouble, but otherwise, the content of your ear is likely to be far more bacteria-friendly than the contents of your pockets (where the headphones are usually kept before use – if I’m any guide, that is).

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MRI detects early damage to chemotherapy child hearts

I do not know how you came here as you read it on social media, twitter, facebook, google +, stumble upon or somewhere else. thankyou for visiting and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.

Detecting early damage to a child’s heart following chemotherapy is possible using MRI scans, says a study from Canada.

Even when children’s heart function appeared to be normal, a new MRI method of mapping the heart was able to identify damage, University of Alberta researchers said.
A UK cardiologist said the impact of anthracycline treatment on children’s hearts was only now being understood.
Early detection was crucial, he said.
While chemotherapy treatment with anthracyclines is known to be effective against many types of cancer, it can lead to irreversible changes to the heart muscle which may not become apparent until several years after treatment.

Writing in the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, the researchers said they performed MRI scans on children and young adults aged seven to 19 who were in remission following this type of treatment.
Using an emerging MRI method called T1 mapping, they said they were able to identify the early effects on patients’ hearts.
This happened even in children whose heart function appeared normal by ultrasound.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Scanning the heart is more difficult than other organs because it is constantly in motion. But with modern scanners the images are fantastic.”

End Quote Dr Chris Plummer Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Dr Edythe Tham and Dr Richard Thompson, who led the study, said: “In childhood cancer survivors, MRI changes were related to anthracycline dose given to the children.
“These changes are also mirrored by thinning of the heart wall and a reduction in the exercise capacity.”
Early protection Dr Chris Plummer, consultant cardiologist at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, said the side effects of chemotherapy were well-known.

“Chemotherapy with anthracyclines is a very effective treatment for cancer but it can be quite toxic to the heart.
“We’ve known that for a long time but the number of children affected is only becoming appreciated now.
“We have to look for ways to protect the heart and intervene earlier when damage occurs.
“Waiting for visible heart damage to appear is too long to wait.”
But Dr Plummer said carrying out an MRI scan of a child’s heart was not an easy thing to do.

“Scanning the heart is more difficult than other organs because it is constantly in motion. But with modern scanners the images are fantastic.
“It’s the best way of looking at the structure and function of the heart – and it’s entirely safe.
“It is an excellent way of precisely monitoring heart function in children.”