Denver Man Gets Gene Therapy to Restore Hearing

thanks for sharing.
if people really regain some hearing, wow, that would be just amazing.
It's running as an experimental trial, so I guess in this form there won't be
any treatment for the masses. But if they can really proof that they can regrow
some hearing detecting cells, it would be a start and they would optimize it's
procedure further.

 

I wonder since they are continually doing research while the trials are going on, if they are able to improve the formula would they have to enter trials all over again? or could they just update the formula and use it instead. If all goes well I think the trials end at the end of 2017. By then they can probably figure out a way to get more db's which would make this formula obsolete.

 

Interesting thought - would cochlear hearing implants for people with hearing loss improve their tinnitus?

 

Sometimes yes but in many cases no. There are reports here of tinnitus worsening after CI surgery.

 

An interview with Rob Gerk 3 months after treatment. Essentially not much change from first interview a few weeks after surgery.

http://www.medicalnewsnetwork.org/N...Gerk at 3 Months on Hearing Restoration Trial

 

Keep the research going.

 

http://2030something.me/2015/07/09/jeffinkc-hearing-more-hearing-high-frequencies/

It looks like the surgery is successful. No numbers posted, but positive results.

 

Excellent news, thanks for posting!

 

This is absolutely amazing! Assuming that his hearing improved from the drug alone, this news is truly groundbreaking! Hopefully Novartis will go public with more detailed information soon =D

Ok, now everyone go buy stock before it's to late

 

I think this is the first true confirmed case that any drug has actually worked in a human. I agree, this is the best news ever.

 

I dont understand, how can they use a med on some one without FDA approval?
Yet it worked then why isn't it available? I guess the million dollar question is, will hearing improvement affect Tinnitus?

Enough with the mice time for people! Where is the philanthropy money for this sinister illness. The US gov spends more on bullets than treatments or cures for ear related problems.

Its shark week on the tube. There is a shark off of California that promises to offer possible cures for many illnesses. That is if the Asians dont eat them all first- Shark Fin Soup! Dont order it!

 

On the GenVec website, it is stated that one of their major milestones was a non-rejection by the FDA of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application filed by Novartis: http://www.genvec.com/product-pipeline/cgf-166-hearing-loss

I'm not exactly sure why they call it a "non-rejection" instead of an "acceptance", but they were cleared by the FDA before proceeding.

 

WAIT so there is finally success at curing some hearing losss on human?!!! OMFG did I just read what I think I just read? please confirm me!

 

I suggest caution. Placebo effect must be ruled out first.

 

Its two month after surgery and he is adjusting his hearing aids, so it should be truth.
Question is what are real numbers.

 

I don't think major audiological changes on someone with long term profound hearing loss can be attributed to the placebo effect.

I'm wondering if the improvement will last long term or will the newly regrown hair cells wane off and die.

It is as I feared though. Based on our current knowledge of the auditory system restoration of stereocilia should not improve speech recognition in difficult hearing conditions unless the hair cells get properly innervated. Hair cell regeneration is good but regrowth of nerve fibers is also very important.

 

They didnt cure him, they just gave him back a little hearing. Again, nothing is confirmed, just that he did better on the hearing test.

Unless he got excited and pushed the button on his hearing test one more time than normal, I dont think the placebo affect applies. He could have developed H in the mean time and that would do it.

The hearing tests are extremely thorough that he is taking so I would imagine the results are good. His understanding didnt improve, which is a bummer, but maybe it takes more time to form the connections from the new hair cells to the brain.

Just the fact that we are in a clinical trial is good news. I dont think they would be doing this if they didnt anticipate some type of success. Again, this was only supposed to take someone from profound to medium hearing loss and it looks like it might just do that.

 

Right, i know its not cure as in restore his hearing 100% but did they successfully grow some hair cell back for "some" increase in hearing?

 

Yes, thats what it sounds like. The cool thing is not only did he grow the hair cells, but there also must be a nerve connection back to the brain to register the better hearing. I think they have known all along this would work in humans and this is the first real account of someone saying their hearing improved. There may be others, but no one has talked about it yet.

 

H doesnt give you super sonic hearing so that's not why. I do agree that the placebo effect doesnt apply here.

Isn't that what Autifony is trying to achieve?

 

I've not seen this discussed, but I imagine that if hearing is restored, it would take the hearing part of the brain some time to wake back up, so to speak. That presumes it does of course. I've read that with choclear implants it takes up to 6 months for the brain to process the input form the implant. Would love to hear the science inclined thoughts on this. This may just be uncharted territory.

 

I think H does give you super sonic hearing. I've had it before and I had to turn down my hearing aides during that time when talking to people. When the H went away I had to turn them back up again.

 

No it doesn't. It makes sounds uncomfortably loud. It does not mean you have super human hearing thresholds.

 

I agree hearing damage isn't the same as hearing loss. I can break a radio, and make it louder. Your auditory system probably has mechanisms similar to feedback loop amplifiers and filters in a radio receiver.

 

This is awesome news. If he is hearing any new sounds, then A. hairs cells are growing and B. There are nerves getting the signal to the brain. But it does show the brain will have to learn how to adjust to the new signal input over time. But the brain is plastic and can do that.

And this was the weakest dose. So the next patients will get a stronger concentration of viruses containing the gene. It is just going to get more interesting from here on.

 

Gibsonian psychology would explain that well.

 

Most recent update from one of he trial participants:

Uncle Jeff recently went back to Kansas this week for what he calls “lab rat session 4.” Here is what he had to say:

Well, not a whole lot to say from this testing session other than my hearing continues to improve and is almost back to where it was before the surgery. I have, in addition, picked up a couple new frequencies that I didn’t have before. I still don’t have an increase in word comprehension.

The visit with Dr. Staecker was more enlightening than before. We discussed my loss of sense of taste and I finally got an answer that suggests that it could take a year and a half for the nerves to heal and get it back. There are now seven of us that have had the surgery. When evaluating things so far, it seems as though there is no clear indication yet as to when and if the procedure will work as planned. As he stated to me, we can’t see what is going on with the humans like we did with the animals as we cannot dissect the ear.

It would appear from these discussions and he concurred that do to my setbacks with the blood on the ear drum, that the whole procedure will take longer than the seven month study to see if the nerve will take root. The nerve taking root in the Cochlear bone seems to be the key to this.

My analysis of the testing at this point is that it will take some time before we can evaluate real progress in the nerve rooting and hopefully speech comprehension improvement as a result of it.

It is too early to adjust the hearing aids, that much I have found out. I think that my brain has to re-learn speech recognition even just returning to pre-surgical levels of sound. The new frequencies aren’t enough to change things.

This report is longer than previous ones due to seeing the forums where people were speculating on this. I want to be clear and concise here that the difference between human and animal test subjects and results is do to the various kinds of hearing loss that the humans have versus the induced hearing loss that the animals had, which would be more consistent and therefore easier to calculate from. Too few test subjects and too many variables at this point to conclude much.

 

Do you know of the 7 subjects, how has their balance been? I heard balance function maybe a side effect good or bad?

 

I wish all participants in this trial as much positive effects in hearing/balance as possible!
Thanks for the update!