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Well if tinnituses arises from the brain not having an input, then it seems like the proper way to fix it is to restore the input. Now restoring damage to the n

by im3w1l 3y ago

Well if tinnituses arises from the brain not having an input, then it seems like the proper way to fix it is to restore the input. Now restoring damage to the nerve or those little hairs inside the ear, I'm sure that's tricky, but it also seems like it should be quite doable if you just throw resources at it. This seems promising? https://hms.harvard.edu/news/scientists-regenerate-hair-cells-enable-hearing https://hms.harvard.edu/news/scientists-regenerate-hair-cell...

janmo 3y ago
Mammals cannot restore hearing, but other animals such as Chicken can. A few years ago there was a drug called FX-322 that was able to regenerate inner ear hair cells in guinea pigs, it made it into human trials, but was unable to improve hearing, meaning that the cells were probably not functional.
musha68k 3y ago
I remember full well that music was much richer to me until maybe my mid 20s. It would be amazing to get that back somehow.
anjel 3y ago
Seems neurological and reminiscent of phantom limb pain after amputation. And they treat that now by fooling the brain with mirrors...
Naijoko 3y ago
there is also this similar project from the EU https://www.regainyourhearing.eu/ https://www.regainyourhearing.eu/ this is very interesting. They put hair regrowth stuff in the ear
ck_one 3y ago
Biggest project to restore hair cells and ultimately hearing is probably this one: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-restoration-project https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-restoration-proj... It was shown in a couple of papers that we can restore hair cells in mammals. Damaged hair cells are the root cause for the majority of people with hearing loss & tinnitus. The most promising path seems to use so called supporting cells in the inner ear and convert them into hair cells. Researchers are getting closer and closer every year. I think we are now at a point where it's not a question of if but rather when. Here is a quote from one of the leading scientist in the field: What is needed to help make HRP goals happen? Frankly, funding to keep our research moving forward. A postdoctoral fellow with five to six years of training starts out on a modest salary of about $45,000, plus $12,000 in benefits. So that’s $57,000 before they even pick up a test tube in the lab. Each person will typically use between $15,000- $20,000 a year in supplies and chemicals. Simply maintaining a single cage of mice for one year costs $210, and my lab can use between 300-500 cages of mice for our experiments! HHF and its donors have been extremely generous in their support, however with additional funding the output from the consortium could be significantly greater and accelerate the pace to a cure. Link: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/spotlight/groves https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/spotlight/groves Overall the field of hearing restoration still only receives tiny amounts of funding (<200 Mio). The research is in a vacuum phase. It's not proven out enough for Big Pharma to come. Relying on small government grants makes it difficult to get the research to a stage where it's attractive enough for Big Pharma. Best bet at this point is probably when a former big tech executives would get hearing loss/tinnitus and then decides to put real money behind the problem. Bryan Johnson who created the Blueprint program has hearing loss but I guess he is not wealthy enough to make a difference. EDIT (to put numbers into perspective): The size of the problem: Sensorineural hearing loss disables over 360 million people worldwide. Irrespective of its cause and severity, hearing loss can have a large impact on people’s health and well-being. The treatment of hearing loss is currently limited to the use of hearing aids or devices surgically implanted in the middle or inner ear. These devices often perform poorly in noisy environments and can be very costly. It has been estimated that the costs of untreated hearing loss are €213 billion in Europe alone each year. The funding (EU): An international consortium of 7 partners has been awarded a €5,8 million European Commission Horizon 2020 grant to develop and test a new drug to treat hearing loss caused by the loss of sensory hair cells.

by im3w1l 3y ago

janmo 3y ago

Mammals cannot restore hearing, but other animals such as Chicken can. A few years ago there was a drug called FX-322 that was able to regenerate inner ear hair cells in guinea pigs, it made it into human trials, but was unable to improve hearing, meaning that the cells were probably not functional.

musha68k 3y ago

I remember full well that music was much richer to me until maybe my mid 20s. It would be amazing to get that back somehow.

anjel 3y ago

Seems neurological and reminiscent of phantom limb pain after amputation. And they treat that now by fooling the brain with mirrors...

Naijoko 3y ago

there is also this similar project from the EU https://www.regainyourhearing.eu/ https://www.regainyourhearing.eu/ this is very interesting. They put hair regrowth stuff in the ear

ck_one 3y ago

Biggest project to restore hair cells and ultimately hearing is probably this one: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-restoration-project https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-restoration-proj... It was shown in a couple of papers that we can restore hair cells in mammals. Damaged hair cells are the root cause for the majority of people with hearing loss & tinnitus. The most promising path seems to use so called supporting cells in the inner ear and convert them into hair cells. Researchers are getting closer and closer every year. I think we are now at a point where it's not a question of if but rather when. Here is a quote from one of the leading scientist in the field: What is needed to help make HRP goals happen? Frankly, funding to keep our research moving forward. A postdoctoral fellow with five to six years of training starts out on a modest salary of about $45,000, plus $12,000 in benefits. So that’s $57,000 before they even pick up a test tube in the lab. Each person will typically use between $15,000- $20,000 a year in supplies and chemicals. Simply maintaining a single cage of mice for one year costs $210, and my lab can use between 300-500 cages of mice for our experiments! HHF and its donors have been extremely generous in their support, however with additional funding the output from the consortium could be significantly greater and accelerate the pace to a cure. Link: https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/spotlight/groves https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/spotlight/groves Overall the field of hearing restoration still only receives tiny amounts of funding (<200 Mio). The research is in a vacuum phase. It's not proven out enough for Big Pharma to come. Relying on small government grants makes it difficult to get the research to a stage where it's attractive enough for Big Pharma. Best bet at this point is probably when a former big tech executives would get hearing loss/tinnitus and then decides to put real money behind the problem. Bryan Johnson who created the Blueprint program has hearing loss but I guess he is not wealthy enough to make a difference. EDIT (to put numbers into perspective): The size of the problem: Sensorineural hearing loss disables over 360 million people worldwide. Irrespective of its cause and severity, hearing loss can have a large impact on people’s health and well-being. The treatment of hearing loss is currently limited to the use of hearing aids or devices surgically implanted in the middle or inner ear. These devices often perform poorly in noisy environments and can be very costly. It has been estimated that the costs of untreated hearing loss are €213 billion in Europe alone each year. The funding (EU): An international consortium of 7 partners has been awarded a €5,8 million European Commission Horizon 2020 grant to develop and test a new drug to treat hearing loss caused by the loss of sensory hair cells.