Evaluation of Vinpocetine as a Therapy in Patients with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Evaluation of vinpocetine as a therapy in patients with sensorineural hearing loss: A phase II, open-label, single-center study

Abstract
The progressive degeneration of the excitable cells of the ear depends on the sustained excitation of the voltage-sensitive sodium channels, so the negative pharmacological modulation could be a rational therapeutic strategy against the damage of these cells.

The objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of Vinpocetine (VPC), a potent sodium channel blocker, as a treatment for acquired sensorineural hearing loss.

A phase II, longitudinal and prospective open clinical study, was conducted over a period of 12 months with patients older than 18 years, to demonstrate the effectiveness of Vinpocetine (VPC) as a treatment for acquired sensorineural hearing loss, using evoked potentials, otoacoustic emissions, audiometry and logoaudiometry, analyzing the results at 6 and 12 months of treatment with Vinpocetine (30 mg/day in 3 doses).

It was observed that from 0 to 6 months there was hearing impairment (which was already expected due to the age of the patients). From 6 to 12 months and from 0 to 12 months there were significant differences with a tendency towards improvement, indicating that the aforementioned deterioration not only stopped, but that with the use of vinpocetine, the hearing capacity improved.

It is concluded that Vinpocetine helps to stop hearing impairment and even improve hearing.

 

Vinpocetine has been available on the market for many years already. Why did they even bother to do another trial?

 

Where do you get it?

 

Any health food store. At least in Canada.

 

Various online herbal/supplement shops carry it, as well as local shops.

 

It is so weird that on American continent you can get almost every substance in supplement form in health food store while in Europe you can get the same substance only as Rx drug from your doctor.

 

I guess it helps only people who have age-related hearing loss, just like Ginkgo Biloba helps with tinnitus seniors only.

 

That's true but much is not known about Vinpocetine and it is also used mainly for cerebral deficiency in old people. They give it to seniors after a stroke, for dementia, for tinnitus (works similarly like Ginkgo biloba), but somebody just wanted to know if it works on hearing loss as well.

It's quite common to test old drugs if they work on something they weren't used for. For example Dexamethasone for COVID-19.

 

Not entirely true. There’s a lot of OTC drugs in Europe that we need to get Rx for. That being said, Europe has a lot of countries and prescription laws vary greatly from country to country. Some places basically everything is OTC lol.

 

The Vinpocetine supplements sold in those health stores often has little to no Vinpocetine. The clinical trial is using pharma grade stuff, which is the real deal.

Like many supplements on the market, what you can buy today is just placebo.

 

Identification and quantification of vinpocetine and picamilon in dietary supplements sold in the United States

 

In Europe Vinpocetine is available in drug stores but you need prescription, i.e. in Poland the drug is called Cavinton.

It’s prescribed for tinnitus but usually with little to no effect.

 

So do we just double down on it? Lol.

 

I just ordered this, no idea if it will help:

https://www.lifeextension.com/vitamins-supplements/item01327/vinpocetine

 

Here in Hungary, Vinpocetine, Pentoxifylline and Piracetam (mainly Piracetam in IV and/or per os) are quite routinely prescribed for tinnitus. They are all Rx drugs.

Let's just say that the results are not satisfying, although some benefit from them.

 

Pretty sure I took Vinpocetine once and it made my tinnitus spike badly.

 

Do they recommend stacking all three?

 

I'm a bit lost in translation. You mean do they recommend to take all three types of medication at the same time?

 

Keep me posted. May dabble.

 

Yes. Stacking is a common term meaning taking multiple supplements at the same time. FYI, I never met a stack I didn't like.

 

Well, in that case, no.

I think Piracetam is most commonly used. After onset lots of people get it in IV form with/without steroids for around 5-10 days, then in tablets. I did not get IV but took Nootropil 2x1200 mg per os (along with Betahistine) for 2 and 2.5 months. It did nothing.

Vinpocetine (Cavinton) is also used in IV and in tablets as well. I don't know about Pentoxifylline (Trental).

Doctors' opinions widely differ, some say none of them does anything, some say they are worth a try, and some say that it is not exactly for healing but for preventing a worsening and protecting hearing

They are not prescribed together and patients are advised to only take them till midday because they might rev your brain up and sleep could be an issue.

Based on the probably biased experience in my local tinnitus group, they barely do anything and if yes, mostly for elder people, but there are exceptions.

 

What are your thoughts on this study?

 

Has anyone else on Tinnitus Talk tried Vinpocetine?

 

Vinpocetine is the only compound I've ever seen that has actually been shown to improve hearing over time.

There are other compounds that have been shown to salvage hearing after an acoustic trauma, but this is different. This study says that Vinpocetine actually improves pre-existing hearing loss. That's incredible and I don't know why nobody talks about this study.

 

Can anyone help me understand this study? I am reading it as though it improves hearing over 6-12 months, but over 0-12 months, it does not in some places. I’m trying to read the tables, and I don’t see an improvement in the numbers, but the results say that there is a significant improvement in hearing capacity over 12 months in both ears. So, does it improve from start to finish, according to this study, or not?

I don’t have any clue how to interpret these studies.

 

Almost half the study participants pissed around and dropped out. Slight improvements at 125 Hz after 12 months. No improvements in other frequencies.

There's little to write about, really.