Nearly 130 million Chinese people -- 10 percent of the population -- have tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. One hundred million of them are young and middle-aged people, the China Disabled Persons' Federation (DPF) said on Thursday, Sixth National Ear Care Day.

"Most young patients' tinnitus is developed from too much stress," said Dr. Hua Qingquan, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the People's Hospital of Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province. Experts suggest that young people learn how to cope with and relieve work-related stress.

The DPF also said that about 10 million citizens over the age of 60 have some degree of hearing loss.

"Deafness in the elderly can induce other health problems, such as senile dementia, because of a lack of communication with others," said Hua.

The focus of this year's Ear Care Day was a campaign to spread ear protection information and to publicize the concerns of ear problem sufferers. In some provinces, local ENT doctors visited families and communities with senior citizens to provide information on hearing problems.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2005)