Dear Healthy Friend,

My niece is constantly listening to music on her phone, headphones in... Little Rain, Locnville, Keri Hilson, Neo... And now my little girl - who isn't even five yet (and spends a lot of time with my niece) - commandeers the radio in my car and dictates to me what she wants to hear. And the little voice in the back seat that constantly says "Mommy, turn it louder", does concern me a little.

Please don't get me wrong... I love listening to music and even have my headphones in while I type this... But after reading Francois' article,I think I might be sticking to the radio in future...

Keep reading to find out why...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing
www.fsphealth.co.za

P.S. Addison's Disease, also known as primary hypoadrenalism, is an endocrine disorder affecting the adrenal glands where the adrenal glands fail to produce cortisol and sometimes mineralcorticol steroids. See what Dr Wright reveals as effective treatments for this...

Could you repeat that please...
Francois Lubbe
Editor, Health Sciences Institute

You probably already suspected it was true.

Watching your kids or grandkids go around with those little headphones jammed in their ears all day, you can't help but wonder what it's doing to their hearing.

After all, the music is so loud, you can hear it from across the room - and those things are right in their ears!

Will they be deaf before they're 20? Should they really be listening all day like that?

But you don't want to nag, knowing they're just going to roll their eyes and say you're out of touch. "Besides," they'll challenge you, "can you prove it?"

Well... Yes. Now you can.

For the proof, we look to a 24-year study of 8,710 adolescent girls, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The girls, who started the study at an average age of 16, had their hearing tested at the beginning of the study in 1985.

Between then and the end of the study, high-frequency hearing loss nearly doubled. This kind of hearing loss results from excessive noise exposure - like cramming little headphones into your ears and pumping up the volume.

Between 2001 and 2008, the number of girls listening to music on personal devices such as iPods and MP3 players went from 18.3% to a whopping 76.4%. In that same time, high frequency hearing loss shot from 12.4% to 19.2%.

Girls (now women, of course) using the devices were 80% more likely to have impaired hearing. Some of them reported experiencing tinnitus - all but one with the condition were headphone users.

It's best to use headphones in moderation - and to keep the volume at a "conversational" or slightly higher level - any higher and the ears are overworked, leading to damage down the road.

It can be tricky, though, to communicate that to kids, who imagine they're immune to such ailments as hearing loss.

Why not ask the kids if they'd like to give their ears a little break and listen together - plug that iPod into the stereo and enjoy their music with them.

Hey, you might even find a new favourite band!

Bouncing back from hypoadrenalism

Q: My sister couldn't figure out why she was so exhausted for months. Finally, we got the diagnosis - hypoadrenalism. What do you suggest?

Dr. Wright: Since the adrenal glands are the primary stress-response glands in the body, severe exhaustion can be the result if they don't operate properly. Yet effective treatment could help those with the problem feel better in a short time.

Therapy consists of DHEA, cortisol and the use of extra table salt when seasoning food. This will help rest and repair the glands. In addition, good, basic nutrition remains important, so a diet of whole, unprocessed foods and limiting sugar and junk food is required. A quality multiple vitamin, 1g of pantothenic acid twice daily and additional vitamin C in the form of 1g three times a day of sodium ascorbate and six or more pieces of liquorice daily (without sugar or other additives) will help speed the recovery of your adrenals.