When I see old people, I notice one thing: Either its their sight or hearings is weak. I'm yet to meet one who has breathing problem though. And here I'm referring to people who are 80 years and above.

But I don't think people in our own generation will make it to 80 years before their hearing ability fails them.

When you look around us today what do you see? Everyone is wearing an earpiece. Its now a fashion. Some people are incomplete if they don't go out with their ear phones. Some times you can hear the music coming from the ear phones when seated next to the person, and you are like ''dude!!! are you having a small ear drum?

If you can hear the sound being delivered into a person's ear via headphones or earphones,
it indicates the sound is too loud and over an extended period can lead to permanent hearing loss.

The amount of hearing loss that one will suffer is related both to the volume, measured in decibels (dB), and the duration of time that one is exposed to the sound.

Sound at 85 dB or below is considered safe. Think about it!

If one is exposed to sounds greater than 90 dB for an average of eight hours per day without hearing protection, hearing loss will most likely result. As the volume increases, the safe time of exposure decreases:

Here are some loudness/time facts to consider (the unit of measurement is decibel):
##At 95 dB, damage will occur after four hours of exposure per day.
##At 100 dB, damage will occur after two hours of exposure per day.
##At 105 dB, damage will occur after one hour of exposure per day.
##At 110 dB, damage will occur after 30 minutes of exposure per day.
##At 115 dB, damage will occur after 15 minutes of exposure per day.
##At 120-plus dB, damage occurs almost immediately.

Most portable stereo music systems produce sound in the range of 95-108 dB at level four and in excess of 115 dB at level eight

For comparison, a soft whisper is usually measured at 30dB; busy traffic at 75dB; a subway train at 90dB; a gunshot blast at 100 dB, a jet plane at 140 dB; and a rocket launching pad at 180 dB. Sounds above 140 dB usually cause pain. If you have to speak in a loud voice to be understood, background sound is probably in excess of 90 dB.

Pass the message because the way things are going, i'm afraid most of us will be like ''heh? heh? heh? I cannot hear you'' when we get to the age of fifty.

Good one.