Groundbreaking findings on otosclerosis and pregnancy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Note To Editors: Pdf of study available upon request
Interviews available with Dr. Lippy and patients with otosclerosis

GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH DEBUNKS LINK TO PREGNANCY AND DISEASE DATING TO NAZI REIGN
New findings show no correlation between pregnancy and hearing loss

Boca Raton, FL (May 16, 2005) --- For the last 66 years, doctors have been taught that a disease, which causes hearing loss and affects a half a million U.S. women, is made worse by pregnancy. In a new study to be released on May 16, Dr. William Lippy, founder of the Lippy Group for Ear, Nose and Throat provides research proving that pregnancy does not cause hearing loss in association with the disease otosclerosis, but instead is a myth originally propagated by the Nazi party in the 1930s.

Otosclerosis, is a fixation of the last little bone in the ear, causing hearing loss. It is a disease that affects twice as many women as men and is genetic in nature. Historically, ear physicians have been taught that otosclerosis is made worse by pregnancy and can lead to losses in hearing or deafness for the expectant mother. Thus doctors often told women with this condition to avoid pregnancy. As late as 1950, abortions or sterilization were often offered to woman as an alternative to their pregnancy.

Dr. William Lippy of Warren, Ohio is an internationally recognized expert in microsurgery for hearing restoration who has spent extensive time working and teaching in Israel. It was there that Lippy became suspect of the teachings and practices surrounding otosclerosis when he observed that many of his ultra-religious female patients with otosclerosis who had multiple pregnancies did not have any worse hearing than the women who had no children. Lippy began to dig further and discovered that the original correlation between pregnancy and otosclerosis came from a paper written in Germany in 1939. The findings in this paper were far from conclusive, but an administrator from the Nazi Party made a decision that would lead doctors to unknowingly adhere to this mistaken protocol for years to come. That rather than propagate a hereditary disease in the German population, nearly all women with otosclerosis would be sterilized or have their pregnancies aborted.

In his study, Lippy reviewed the hearing of 94 women (128 ears) who were operated on between 1998 and 2003 to repair hearing loss caused from otosclerosis. A group of 47 otosclerotic women who had no children served as the study’s control group. Contrary to what specialists had believed for more than six decades, through his research Lippy discovered that pregnancy had no impact on the hearing of women with otosclerosis. Thus Lippy concluded that for the past 66 years, doctors worldwide have incorrectly advised their patients. Based on these new findings, physicians can now safely advise their otoscelerotic patients that pregnancy will not make their hearing worse.

“When I saw this ultra-religious population in Israel, where there are women who have otosclerosis and have many, many children, I began to notice that their hearing was no worse than women who never had children. It motivated me to do this research. As my study progressed, I couldn’t help but wonder and worry as to how many women each year we had ill advised to stop having children or as few as possible”, said Dr. Lippy. “These findings can now finally put so many women’s fears to rest.”

The study has been peer reviewed and has been submitted to The Triological Society’s journal, The Laryngoscope. Lippy presented his findings on Monday, May 16 at 10:30am (ET). at The Triological Society’s 108th annual meeting at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida. Lippy is available for interviews as are some of his patients, who based their plans for children on the fear that they would lose their hearing if they were to become pregnant.

For more information contact: Marcy Fleisher at (614) 235-5253 or (614) 397-0032
MBF Communications - mfleisher@columbus.rr.com 
 

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