Victoria Branch

232-645 FORT STREET, VICTORIA, BC V8W 1G2

Tel: 250 - 388-6854

Email: chhavictoria@yahoo.ca

Office Hours: 10am-2pm, Monday-Wednesday, Thursday 10am-4pm

NEWSLETTER
SPRING SUMMER 2011
Board of directors for 2010/2012 CHHA-Victoria Branch President: Treasurer: Members at large: Past President: John Close Vacant Arlene Staniul, Audrey Sowerby, Shirley Stevens Hugh Mitchell Vice President: Peter Bourne Secretary: Anna OBrien

PRESIDENTS CORNER

Hello Everyone, I hope that you all had a good winter and are now looking forward to a warmer spring. This month, (May) which is Better Hearing and Speech month, we welcome Brent McNeill of McNeill Audiology. Brent will speak to us on Tuesday, May 24 at 11:00 here in the office. There will be time for a Q & A period, socializing and light refreshments will be served. Brent gives freely of his time and knowledge so please take advantage of this opportunity and join us. Bring any and all questions for Brent. Please RSVP either by phone or email.
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The positive news from the office is that we have sufficient funds to remain where we are until the end of the year. I hope you will continue to support us and think about the Book Club and the Mah Jong group. Audrey Sowerby has worked hard to organize these activities and is willing to teach Mah Jong to those that are interested. Lets support her! I will be attending the B.C. Chapter AGM in Surrey on Saturday, May 28 where the BC Chapter will be receiving a large donation resulting from a class action lawsuit against the B.C. Ear Bank. The BC Chapter will use these funds to create a program called Managing Hearing Loss, Speech Reading Course in DVD form with an accompanying manual. Also, we will be discussing the details of the Walk-2-Hear Walkathon fundraiser, which is mentioned later under Office Notes with a few more details. I look forward to attending the National Conference in Yellowknife in June. If your membership is due and havent paid it, please do so. We really need your support. Until the next newsletter have a good spring and keep in touch. John Close, President ________________________________________________________________

Thank You to our Following Sponsors

Thank you to the Provincial Employees Community Services Fund for their continued support!

CHHA VICTORIA THANKS THE PATRONS OF BINGO BINGO FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT

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Many thanks go to the law firm of ROBERT J. KLASSEN, Family Law, who generously provided CHHA with free legal services. Their address is 418 645 Fort Street, Victoria BC.; 250-388-4344. Website: www.rjklassen.com ________________________________________________________________

IN MEMORIAM James Wilfrid Birtwistle Wilf May 18, 1920 - December 18, 2010
Founding Member of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Victoria Branch Wilf was a faithful and strong supportive member of the CHHA, Victoria Branch from its start. He was a long time Board member and was always filled with enthusiasm and encouragement. He was perpetually obliging in his offer of rides anywhere and anytime for any Canadian Hard of Hearing Association related occasion. Wilf was always willing to do any and all repairs needed around the office (his handiwork is still present today). If he heard that a member needed some plumbing done, he would go right out and fix the problem. He had a typical pioneer spirit and loved to do whatever the community needed done. Wilf was a compassionate human being and we are for knowing him. Page 3

richer

TINNITUS TIP
I would like to promote the use of a Zapper from personal experience. What is a Zapper? The Zapper is a device that eliminates parasites, bacteria, viruses, etc It kills these toxins simultaneously, given sufficient voltage, duration and frequency. The Zapper is a box with a ninevolt battery inside. I have an older style Zapper that has bands attached to it for use on the arms or legs. A portable zapper is now available on-line. The older style is around $180.00 and the portable one a little more. The portable model has copper contacts and can be worn in your bra or pocket virtually all the time. The older Zapper runs for 65 minutes and has a metal contact on which you put kitchen paper sprayed with water on the contacts next to your skin. This is for protection from possible scorching. The Zapper, recommended by Scientist, Hulda Clark, with regular use, kills toxins such as: parasites, fungus, infection, etcIve had nasal polyps for years. After three surgeries they still grew. I decided to use my Zapper everyday for a few weeks. The results were clear sinuses. Polyps are only fungus. For maintenance I used it once every 2 or 3 days. After a while I realized my annoying tinnitus had also disappeared. That is until I decided to drink a cup of hot milk with a shot of last Christmas brandy for insomnia. I slept like a log. The penalty was, however, a buzzing in my ears with the tinnitus back. After a zapping session of 65 minutes the next day it disappeared again. The next night I got up for a cup of tea after not being able to sleep. This time I added a dash of brandy to the tea. The next morning the Page 4 tinnitus was back. Darn it! I used to enjoy brandy with dry ginger in my younger years. Next time I will try wine and beer, after all Christmas comes but once a year. This was interesting, if I could avoid what causes it I could control my tinnitus. Also, the pain in my hands from arthritis has almost gone. I stepped up to using the Zapper every day and found the pain gradually subsided. I do not have pain anymore, just a few twinges. It also has reduced the infection in my body. What a boon. I highly recommend the Zapper to keep any internal toxins at bay. I hope this tip helps some of you who may have sinus or tinnitus problems. This is a natural remedy - no drugs needed. What a break! The book, which is the source of information for the Zapper, is A Cure For All Diseases, by Hulda Clark. The website address is www.drclark.net. Kathleen Farley

HEARING PROBLEMS LINKED TO INCREASED DEMENTIA RISK Our thanks go to Michel David, Chief, Community Development, CHHA, National for bringing the following article to our attention. Wider use of hearing aids may curb Alzheimer's, American study finds Reuters February 16, 2011 People who are hard of hearing have increased odds of developing dementia as they age, fuelling hopes that wider use of hearing aids might stem the rise of dementia, according to a U.S. study. The study of more than 600 men and women by Johns Hopkins University surgeon Frank Lin and colleagues showed that the worse the participants' hearing, the greater their dementia risk. "Does it mean you will develop dementia if your hearing is impaired? Absolutely not," Lin said, noting that while a small study from the 1980s found similar results, this study was the first one to follow people over time. "But is your risk increased? You betcha." With funding from the National Institute on Aging, Lin and his colleagues followed more than 600 men and women aged 36 to 90 over an average of 12 years. All had a
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hearing test done at the start of the study, but none had dementia at that point. Overall, nine per cent of the participants developed some kind of dementia during the study, which was published in the Archives of Neurology. The most common form was Alzheimer's disease. Those with mild hearing loss had nearly twice the chance of developing dementia compared to people with normal hearing, even after ruling out the influence of age and other factors. The risk increased three-fold for those with moderate hearing loss, and fivefold for severe impairment, the study found. Lin noted that the reasons for the link are unclear, saying there were three possibilities, such as hearing loss and dementia sharing a common, unknown cause. Another possibility is that elderly people who are hard of hearing may have extra difficulties coping with declining mental function, or that the social isolation and loneliness caused by declining hearing could also fuel the dementia. Should these last two be the case, Lin added, there could be a significant impact on public health and healthcare spending. "Treating hearing loss is not going to hurt you, except perhaps your wallet,"

Lin said, noting that he is currently running a trial to see if treating hearing loss would delay the onset of dementia. "We really need to begin studying what the exact mechanism is. And we need to begin studying whether hearing aids could have an effect on the onset of dementia." The article poses interesting questions. Though there is no direct link, hearing loss appears to be a contributing factor. The researchers are trying to determine if auditory

stimulation reduces the probability of dementia amongst those with hearing loss. If this is proven true, its strong case for CHHA to demand that all government levels review their policies on hearing aid subsidies, devices, and have uniform policies across the nation. Michel David Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/ Hearing+problems+linked+increased +dementia+risk/4291588/story.html#i xzz1K0TfOCLP

**************************************************************************** OFFICE NOTES WALK-2-HEAR FUNDRAISER

This fun and important fundraiser event will take place in Ottawa and Vancouver on Saturday, September 24th. At time of writing the time and location in Vancouver are unknown. We will find out the details at the BC Chapters Annual General Meeting on May 28th. Whether our Branch will join the Vancouver walkers or walk on our own in the Victoria area is still to be determined. You do not need to walk to part of the fun you can also support one of our walkers. Well let you know the details in our next Newsletter.

COMPUTER WOES
At the end of April a virus infiltrated our computer. The virus managed to erase all emails and more importantly, all the contacts in our address book. So, if some of you have received this Newsletter through the mail, rather than electronically, this is why. Could you please send the office your email address if this is your case the office email address is: chhavictoria@yahoo.ca. This would be most appreciated. The virus has been removed but the computer technician was not able to retrieve the emails or the contacts. Page 6

************************************************************************************** Our thanks, to the many volunteers who contributed their time to this newsletter. The Views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and are not attributed to the publication of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association unless otherwise stated. REMINDER The Board would like to remind our members that we do depend on the membership fees to support our Branch. If there are any lapsed members that have received a renewal notice please bear this in mind. Thank you for your support. HELP SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BRANCH! If you wish to make a contribution or a donation to CHHA Victoria branch Please complete and mail the donor slip Please cut. Yes, I want to help CHHA-Victoria Please accept my donation for the following amount: $__________________ [_] Cheque [_] Money Order [_]Cash (please do not send cash in the mail) Name:______________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________ Cheques are payable to: CHHA-Victoria 232-645 Fort Street Victoria, BC V8W 1G2 Donations are tax deductible, and receipts issued. CHHA-Victoria Charitable Number: 1183 3029 RR0001 ***************************************************************************************

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