The American Tinnitus Association (ATA) has declared May 16 - 22, 2010 National Tinnitus Awareness Week. Because of the progress of tinnitus research and the efforts to bridge those knowledge gaps to find a cure, ATA appropriately named this year's awareness week "Bridging the Gap Toward a Tinnitus Cure."

The American Tinnitus Association has a variety of resources and activities designed to help you raise awareness this week and all year long by supporting its mission of curing tinnitus. Visit www.ata.org/taw2010 to download these resources. Another way you can show your support of its mission is to start a Virtual Walk Team for their upcoming annual fund raiser - The "Jack Vernon walk to Silence Tinnitus" - learn more at walk.ata.org.

Tinnitus, commonly referred to as "ringing in the ears" is the perception of sound where no external source is present. Most commonly caused by noise exposure, tinnitus impacts up to 50 million Americans and of those, 12 million suffer from intrusive, chronic tinnitus. Their quality of life is often ruthlessly reduced and activities they once enjoyed such as going to movies, eating out at restaurants and even holding a job become impossible for many. Tinnitus remains the number-one service connected disability for returning personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to impact veterans from all periods of service at astonishing rates.

ATA invites all those interested in participating in this year's national tinnitus awareness week to visit http://www.ata.org/taw2010 for more information.