Usually when children are born deaf, they call it nerve deafness, but it's really not

the actual nerve.

It's little tiny hair cells in the cochlea.

Dana Suskind is a physician scientist at the University of Chicago, and more dramatically,

she is a pediatric surgeon who specializes in cochlear implants.

My job is to implant this incredible piece of technology, which bypasses these defective

hair cells and takes the sound from the environment, the acoustic sound, and transforms it into

electrical energy, which then stimulates the nerve.

And somebody who is severe to completely profoundly deaf after implantation can have normal

levels of hearing, and it is pretty phenomenal.

It is pretty phenomenal.

If you ever need a good cry, happy cry, just type in cochlear implant activation on YouTube.

You'll see little kids hearing sound for the first time, and their parents flipping out

with joy.

The cochlear implant is a remarkable piece of technology, but really it's just one of

many remarkable advances.

In medicine and elsewhere, created by devoted researchers and technologists and sundry smart

people, you know it's even more remarkable how often we fail to take advantage of these

advances.

One of the most compelling examples is the issue of hypertension.

About a third of all Americans have high blood pressure.

First of all, the awareness rate is about only 80% of those only 50% actually are controlled.

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