Any person experiencing hearing problems should seek medical attention promptly to allow for the early detection of ear tumors in case these turn out to be the cause of the problem, Taipei City Hospital said yesterday.
While hearing loss is often regarded as a relatively benign annoyance that accompanies old age, it can be a symptom of dangerous ear tumors, said Li Kuo-hsi (李國熙), director of the ear, nose and throat division at the hospital’s Renai (仁愛) branch.
The hospital reported that it has seen a sharp rise in ear tumor cases this year.
Tumors found along the nerve connecting the ears to the brain account for almost 10 percent of all cranial tumors, Li said.
Although these types of tumors will typically not spread to other parts of the body, they can compress and damage the cochlear nerve as they grow, leading to hearing loss.
“Left untreated, these tumors can grow large enough to compress other nerves, leading to facial contortion and paralysis if it reaches the facial nerves,” Li said.
“A slightly larger tumor will start to compress the brain stem, endangering the patient’s life by leading to irregular changes in breathing, pulse and blood pressure,” he added.
Li said that promptly diagnosing tumors is key to their being treated effectively. While smaller tumors can be controlled with radiation therapy, large tumors require surgery that can often result in permanent hearing loss, he said.
He added that the smaller the tumors are when removed, the less risk there is that surgery will damage facial or other nerves.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS