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Page 14 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • June 11, 2014 Hearing health care office provides free testing Do you have trouble with your hearing? An estimated 36 million Americans do. It is the third most prevalent health concern and is now believed to affect cognitive ability when not caught early. It can even contribute to short-term memory problems. A new hearing health care office has opened in the Midland Park/Wyckoff area. New Life Hearing, located at 700 Godwin Avenue, Suite 300, is positioned right on the border of the two towns. The practice has a mission this year to provide 1,500 hearing tests, with various special events, at abso- lutely no charge to the community. “Everyone over the age of 55 should get their hearing checked regularly,” says David Barclay, owner of New Life Hearing. Bar- clay has been in the hearing health industry for more than 20 years. He developed a pas- sion for helping those suffering with hearing impairment, while working as a technical adviser at Philips Hearing Instruments in Mahwah. “When you help someone under- stand their hearing loss, or improve that problem with technology, you change their life,” he said. Barclay is driven by the belief that hearing is the most important sense we have. “Relationships are the fruit of life, and those connections become strained with hearing loss. People get disconnected.” New Life Hearing provides a range of services. Hearing aid service is the main- stay of the practice, but Barclay said hearing testing is the most important contribution to the community. The test provides infor- mation. It enables patients to understand their problem and how it affects them and the family and friends around them. It can even change one’s personality. “If you suddenly were to give a strong, confident woman a hearing loss, she could become insecure. She might even with- draw from conversations, or conversely, try to dominate them. She might forget many details from discussions that she hears, and even begin to lose connection with people in her life. Her family would become more and more frustrated. Her life would change drastically,” Barclay said. The problem, he explained, is that hearing loss can take many years to affect a person’s life. Slight changes, year by year, continually add to the condition. Waiting too long can affect a person’s ability to comprehend language. “The brain can, in effect, learn a new language, one that’s not actually occur- ring,” Barclay added. Johns Hopkins and the National Insti- tute on Aging reported that individuals with significant hearing loss were two to four times more likely to develop demen- tia, but even mild loss doubled the risk. Medical issues can also cause hearing loss, including blockage from cerumen (ear wax), and are cause for a medical referral. These medical problems make up only about five percent of cases, but can be very serious in nature. Only a medical doctor can resolve the majority of these issues. Through its free hearing test promotions this year, New Life Hearing expects to find many people in need of medical assistance. All will be referred back to the client’s own family doctor, or to an ENT, for medical diagnosis and treatment. Barclay has been improving lives for the last 15 years as one of the top providers of hearing help in the country. He thoroughly enjoys the relationships he has found, and looks forward to building new ones at this new location. Contact New Life Hearing at (201) 444- 8500 for more information on how you, a loved one, or friend, can receive a free hearing test. Don’t miss out. The possibil- ity of New Life awaits you.