Ringing in the Head, page 1

People Hearing Persistent, Mysterious Hum Aren't Alone
By MINDY SINK

Published: December 2, 2003

o one else in Phil Ciofalo's neighborhood in northeast Albuquerque by
the foothills of the Sandia Mountains is bothered by the humming
sound that irritates him constantly. They can't even hear it.

In other neighborhoods around the globe, however, Mr. Ciofalo has
company, other people who complain of hearing a persistent humming
sound, usually when they are in their homes seeking peace and quiet
from a busy world.

"These people are definitely not crazy," said Jim Cowan, senior
consultant for Acentech Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. Acentech was hired
by the City of Kokomo, Ind., to study a mysterious hum that residents
first complained about in 1999. "They are just picking something up
that others can't," Mr. Cowan said.

The preliminary investigation in Kokomo has determined one possible
source for the hum, but like other studies it concluded that there
could be several causes and that more research was needed.

The people who hear a hum do not appear to be suffering from
tinnitus, a persistent ringing in the ear that is not produced by an
external source.

Dr. James Kelly, an ear specialist and director of surgical sciences
at the University of New Mexico who examined complaints of a hum in
Taos, said that "tinnitus hearers report hearing higher frequency
sound" than the people he studied.

"The Taos hum is a low-frequency phenomenon," he said.

Dr. Kelly added that most hearing disorders affect perception at
higher frequencies.

The most common description of the hum is that it sounds like the low
rumble of a distant diesel truck idling. Some people also feel a
vibration, or don't hear any sound but just sense the vibration.
Others report various maladies they associate with the hum, including
headaches, diarrhea, nosebleeds, dizziness, fatigue and memory loss.

There have been reports of hums in England, Scotland, Australia and
other places in the United States for decades.

The "hummers," as they are sometimes called, vary widely in age and
in the times and locations that the sound is most pronounced.

Billy Kellems, a 37-year old truck driver in Kokomo, has been hearing
a hum since 1999.

"It's like a train yard or a jet on the tarmac in the distance," he
said, to describe the humming sound that he thinks causes his
headaches and diarrhea.

Mr. Ciofalo, 81, says the hum he hears in his New Mexico home has
made him irritable and gives him frequent headaches.

"It started about four years ago," he said. "It was a low hum sound
that would come and go, but now I hear it all the time."

His housemate, Martin Schweighardt, who has numerous health problems,
including difficulty hearing, does not hear the sound. They have
lived in the house since 1984.

Mr. Ciofalo has contacted the county health and environment office
and written his senators and members of Congress. Representative
Heather A. Wilson, a Republican, forwarded his request to specialists
at the University of New Mexico, and Mr. Ciofalo has received
technicians from Sandia National Laboratories in his home to do tests.

He has temporarily had his power, security alarms, water and phone
turned off and now sleeps with headphones on. He also had his hearing
tested and found it to be "as good as a newborn baby."

In the 1990's, complaints about a humming sound in Taos reached
Congress and an investigation was done.

But with the study inconclusive as to a source of the hum, news of it
nearly vanished.

The hum, however, continues for some people in that area who share
their problem by writing about it in local newspapers or in online
discussion forums.

Dr. Kelly said that a lack of financing was the reason no further
study had been done, but both he and Mr. Cowan recommended more
research on low-frequency hearing to learn how it might affect human
health.

Not everyone is convinced that the hum is real. In most cases there
is simply no evidence that the hum people are hearing is coming from
an external source.