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Home / Critical illness cover / - Deafness
Background information
In total, over 8 million people are deaf or hard of hearing.
Of these, 673,000 are severely or profoundly deaf, relying on lipreading and requiring a textphone or video phone.
(RNID, 2002)
Definition
Total permanent and irreversible loss of all hearing in both ears.
What does this mean?
Loss of hearing may be caused by illness, for example a stroke, or by a serious accident. The loss must be total, permanent and irreversible. Therefore a claim would not be paid if the loss was only partial or was a temporary condition.
NEWS
MS Society say coffee can?t help fight disease
24 July 2008 18:03:16
A theory that drinking coffee could help combat multiple sclerosis has been debunked by the MS Society.
Those with life insurance policies may be interested to hear that despite recent research on mice which indicated that an increased intake of coffee could help MS, industry experts have said they would not recommend people to up their coffee intake.
Responding to the recommendation to increase the amount of caffeine a person drinks, Chris Bentley, press officer at the MS Society, said: "There are obviously side effects of drinking loads of caffeine – it can worsen diabetes, it can get very addictive and that sort of stuff. We welcome all research into MS but in terms of advising people to drink more coffee, that is not what we would do."
Mr Bentley suggested that part of the problem with the study was that it was only testing the affect of caffeine on mice and had to be translated to humans.
According to the MS society around 85,000 people are affected by multiple sclerosis in the UK.
Some UK life insurance policy holders have multiple sclerosis.
Positive attitude to cancer 'not associated with survival'
23 October 2007 12:58:52
People looking at critical illness cover for cancer may be interested in new research looking at the impact of an optimistic attitude on the disease.
Several cancer debates have focused on the potential of a positive outlook to boost an individual's chances of surviving.
However the report from scientists at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that emotional well-being is not an independent risk factor affecting the outcome of head and neck cancers.
Researchers there looked at data from two studies of patients with the disease, with more than 1,000 individuals completing a questionnaire on their quality of life during treatment.
During the work 646 of the participants died from their disease.
Researcher Dr James Coyne pointed out that emotional status was not associated with survival, even after investigating other factors including gender, tumour site or disease stage.
"The hope that we can fight cancer by influencing emotional states appears to have been misplaced," he commented.
"If cancer patients want psychotherapy or to be in a support group, they should be given the opportunity to do so," he added.
"There can be lots of emotional and social benefits. But they should not seek such experiences solely on the expectation that they are extending their lives."
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online.
Gene that can block HIV discovered
29 February 2008 17:16:04
Researchers in America claim to have discovered a gene that is able to block HIV and could stop the onset of AIDS - news that may affect the life insurance premiums of sufferers.
Dr Stephen Barr, a researcher from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta, claims his team has identified a human gene called TRIM22 that prevents the assembly of the HIV virus, reports Medical News Today.
When cells were prevented from turning on TRIM22, the body's defense system was unable to block HIV infection meaning TRIM22 is an essential part of our body's ability to fight off HIV, he explained.
"We hope that our research will lead to the design of new drugs and/or vaccines that can halt the person-to-person transmission of HIV and the spread of the virus in the body, thereby blocking the onset of AIDS," Dr Barr added.
According to international AIDS charity Avert, an estimated 73,000 people are currently living with HIV in the UK.
VC Jobs is the sector's dedicated site for venture capital jobs and private equity jobs, covering all functions within the firms form analyst and associate to partner and MD.
By Hannah Baker
24 July 2008 18:03:16
A theory that drinking coffee could help combat multiple sclerosis has been debunked by the MS Society.
Those with life insurance policies may be interested to hear that despite recent research on mice which indicated that an increased intake of coffee could help MS, industry experts have said they would not recommend people to up their coffee intake.
Responding to the recommendation to increase the amount of caffeine a person drinks, Chris Bentley, press officer at the MS Society, said: "There are obviously side effects of drinking loads of caffeine – it can worsen diabetes, it can get very addictive and that sort of stuff. We welcome all research into MS but in terms of advising people to drink more coffee, that is not what we would do."
Mr Bentley suggested that part of the problem with the study was that it was only testing the affect of caffeine on mice and had to be translated to humans.
According to the MS society around 85,000 people are affected by multiple sclerosis in the UK.
Some UK life insurance policy holders have multiple sclerosis.
23 October 2007 12:58:52
People looking at critical illness cover for cancer may be interested in new research looking at the impact of an optimistic attitude on the disease.
Several cancer debates have focused on the potential of a positive outlook to boost an individual's chances of surviving.
However the report from scientists at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that emotional well-being is not an independent risk factor affecting the outcome of head and neck cancers.
Researchers there looked at data from two studies of patients with the disease, with more than 1,000 individuals completing a questionnaire on their quality of life during treatment.
During the work 646 of the participants died from their disease.
Researcher Dr James Coyne pointed out that emotional status was not associated with survival, even after investigating other factors including gender, tumour site or disease stage.
"The hope that we can fight cancer by influencing emotional states appears to have been misplaced," he commented.
"If cancer patients want psychotherapy or to be in a support group, they should be given the opportunity to do so," he added.
"There can be lots of emotional and social benefits. But they should not seek such experiences solely on the expectation that they are extending their lives."
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online.
29 February 2008 17:16:04
Researchers in America claim to have discovered a gene that is able to block HIV and could stop the onset of AIDS - news that may affect the life insurance premiums of sufferers.
Dr Stephen Barr, a researcher from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta, claims his team has identified a human gene called TRIM22 that prevents the assembly of the HIV virus, reports Medical News Today.
When cells were prevented from turning on TRIM22, the body's defense system was unable to block HIV infection meaning TRIM22 is an essential part of our body's ability to fight off HIV, he explained.
"We hope that our research will lead to the design of new drugs and/or vaccines that can halt the person-to-person transmission of HIV and the spread of the virus in the body, thereby blocking the onset of AIDS," Dr Barr added.
According to international AIDS charity Avert, an estimated 73,000 people are currently living with HIV in the UK.
VC Jobs is the sector's dedicated site for venture capital jobs and private equity jobs, covering all functions within the firms form analyst and associate to partner and MD.
By Hannah Baker