Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration — Maybe We Can Know More

Cause i'm still new into this i have some questions.

I have moderate hearing loss all my life. I would really appreciate to hear like a normal person for once in my life. And if possible whitout tinnitus. I don't think hearing aids can give me that experience, because i can't still hear some sounds like the fridge or something. Maybe because some frequencies are gone?

How long will it possibly take to have a cure or treatment for hearing loss en possibly tinnitus?

Thanks to you all.

Sorry for my bad english, i'm from holland

 

@Benoves

I have been using hearing aids for 10 years, and I would do anything to have my normal hearing back.
My hearing loss is also moderate, and I would not function without my hearing aids.

As for a cure, it is difficult to say, since it depends on so many different things. The technology is there, but there are several other obstacles that has to be conquered like extensive human trials, research and testing. I hope we can see a cure within the next 5 years, but to be realistic I would say at least 10 years.

 

I have hearing haids for about 7 weeks. Now i know what i lost ALL the time, i'm looking forward for a cure. For some reasom, moderate hearing loss never looks like a handicap to me, because i had it all my life. Now with my hearing aids, it looks so beautiful to me to have a good hearing. I also had an conversion with my mom(53) about this. She don't believes she would ever be hearing like a normal person. I hope she is SO wrong. She never read something like this, so maybe she just don't know about the things going on.

I have read that the technology is already there, probably some obstacles. I hope some of the researches which are going in trial by a few months, or are already in trial will show some promising results. But if not, they probably can learn from this trials. When something gives promising results, then something can went fast as i see in different inventions. All of the company's are doing their best to be the first one.

I'm calling myself (24) lucky i'm born this generation. Really looking forward to see a cure for hearing loss. and possibly a treatment for tinnitus. Praying that my mom also can experience this in their lifetime. I would take a second mortgage for this, especially for tinnitus.

Science is going fast these days, not only by tinnitus.

 

@Benoves

I was born with bad hearing, but I did not start with hearing aids before I was 28 so I know how you feel about everything like a new world. I did OK without the hearing aids before, but now I can not function without them.

Yes, we just have to keep hoping and having faith in the medical industry, and not least contribute in every way we can. Hearing and Tinnitus is becoming more and more of a problem, so this helps to put focus on a cure. And as you say, each step in research is a step in the right direction.

Yes, we are lucky to be born in this time, truly. I think about it sometimes, how I would function just 100 years ago with my hearing and Tinnitus. It is important to stay positive and be grateful for what we have instead of what we dont have. This is of course really hard sometimes, trust me I know.

I wish you all the best.

 

I think it would be bad to live 100 years ago with hearing loss, but i think it was also a beautiful time. Due to science en probably cures for hearing loss i prefer to live now. But out of my heart i would prefer to live 100 years ago whitout hearing loss and whitout tinnitus, beiing a farmer or something. |Wish you all the best too. But ontopic;

Does anyone have an resume of companies working on hearing loss or tinnitus?

 

Oh, I so much agree with you! I´d love to live 100 years ago if I could be free from hearing loss and tinnitus.

Regarding companies working in the field there are several, some of them are mentioned here;

http://www.reportsweb.com/tinnitus-pipeline-review-h1-2017#tabs3

But be sure to read more in this research section here on TT, quite a few more are mentioned.

 

Thanks to you. I'm trying to cope with my T atm, cause there's no cure. I'm still new into this, so hoping for things to get better. If not my T, then my reaction to it (habituation). My T is very fluctuating, my hearing also fore some reason? Sometimes i hear much better.

I read here on TT that atm there are 29 companies working on a cure? There is a big hospital (UMCG groningen) where i'm living which is doing a 4 years research with multiple researchers but i don't expect to much from it, cause there are MUCH bigger companies working on it.

 

Yes, coping and making the best of the situation is what we got right now. As a comfort, there are many of us around the world, and being a part of this community can be of help and relief if used in a positive way. I have had tinnitus for 20 years, and I had very well habituated to it, but this summer I got a new tone and my tinnitus appear to be more reactive than before. My T is also very fluctuating, and it can be a struggle to pin down what causes this. But in general, sleep, exercise and a balanced diet could benefit in some ways. And of course, your attitude towards T.

What does your ENT say about your hearing being fluctuating?

The more research, the better.. Hopefully they will share their findings with each other as that could be a way to find a cure quicker.

 

When i went to my ENT 8 weeks ago, i didn't have those symptons. Also those morse code thing and extreme fluctuating not. But i will see it positive: I did start with a VERY loud EEEEEEEE in both ears. Right now i only hear a soft EEEEE in both ears and sometimes 2 additional sounds, but they can also disappear. The his can be freaking loud, but can also fully disappear. I think there is some trigger? Sometimes the his is also reactive to sound, but sometimes not

I have an appointment 13-12-2017 and i will discuss this things with my ENT. Last night i was able to sleep without medicines for the first time. Got 6 hours of sleep. I think things are going to be better, but i still hear it all day everywhere. I'm much less in panic, but somethimes it drives me crazy. The greatest annoyance to me is thinking of it all day... Wish i could change that, but i quess it takes time.

Wish you all the luck to habituate to the new tone, you've done it before. So why not twice? It seems possible if i read the stories around here. Maybe a bit harder.

 

My hearing fluctuated a lot when I had my noise trauma. Don't quote me but I think its just the damaged hair cells fighting back. Healing themselves then getting damaged again. My ENT and audiologist did nothing. Not a single thing. Didn't even know what my Hyperacusis was. Didn't mark Tinnitus as a disability. My audiogram showed no hearing loss, I beg to differ since my perception isn't the same. The worlds a little more muffled, and everything isn't as loud. Its slight but noticeable. Very noticeable in one ear since it is worse than the other.

Just because I have no "visual hearing loss" doesn't mean my ears aren't compromised so to speak.

My Tinnitus and Hyperacusis also fluctuated in the beginning. They both settled down now (but is still there) though. However I'm young (17) and everything is going to heal faster and at a larger rate than someone who is older.

 

Could we return to the topic of the thread? If folks want to talk about their personal situations, you can do that in a thread it support. This thread is focused on research.

 

I wonder if it's possible to completely remove the stereocilia from the outer hair cells by extreme noise exposure.

 

A sudden extreme loud noise could quite possibly rupture the eardrums which are usually more resilient than stereocilia so perhaps the answer is a resounding Yes

 

It is why, in my opinion, that some people after a second loud sound exposure had their T disappeared

 

That makes a lot of sense actually.

 

Although I imagine that other stereocilia would also get damaged generating other sensory input into the cochlear nerve?!?

 

It's good to share the review articles when possible. I would appreciate others linking me to phd work or unpublished data. Thank you to whoever it was that shared that Maarja Laos thesis btw. https://www.docdroid.net/saCyC1S/regenerative-medicine-in-hearing-recovery-simoni-2017.pdf

 

some news about the hair cell regenerative research @ HoughEar
http://houghear.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Newsletter-3rd-Quarter.pdf

 

Curious what level of improvement.. 10, 20, 50db..?

 

http://houghear.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Newsletter-3rd-Quarter.pdf
They mention groundbreaking results in this article. Just weird that they don't describe a rough timeline to the clinic. If this is factual (not made up) what would be the road blocks to a phase 1 study?

 

If any of those working on this come through, I have a good feeling it'll cure my T. My hearing loss is between 10-20% in a few high frequencies, which explains my current high-pitched T. Sat night, just to see what would happen, I popped in my friends hearing aids (turned way down low), and my T went to zero...gone, nothing, complete silence! After so many years with T, I forgot what silence sounds like...and it's wonderful!! Obviously this is just my own experience, and means nothing in the grand scheme, but it gives me hope just the same. I'm habituated enough that I'm not going to run out and get HA's, plus my hearing isn't that bad that I need them. However, now I'm really wondering about the chronic/acute thing?? My brain didn't have a problem remembering how to hear silence, once lost frequencies were apparently replaced. The HA's were also obviously not tuned for my ears, I just know my buddy lost his high's from a loud PA system. Just wanted to share this with you all...

 

2001: A Space Odyssey monkey scene

 

I've posted something similar to this many many times and experimented on myself many different times to know this is true. Yes, it does work like that and yes, there is hope that once your hearing is restored then T goes away.

 

I really hope they will find a way to regenerate the hair cells within short time.

But, I am curios on how the brain will react once these cells are active again. Take my case for example; I have been using hearing aids for 10 years now due to a moderate bilateral hearing loss. Today, I am not able to function without my hearing aids as my ears (brain) has become used to the sound they give. If I "suddenly" should start hearing normal again, I think that sounds would be very loud, intrusive and strange to the ears/brain.

I wish for nothing more than to be able to hear normal, and I do hope they find the cure for both hearing loss and T.

 

I think for some reasons the brain quickly adapt to it for some reason. The brain is made for hearing.

 

You could be right. As with hearing aids, time and training is needed to be comfortable with the sound provided by the hearing aids. I am just curios how the transition from "artificial" hearing to "normal" hearing will be, but I guess we dont know before its done.

 

I don't think the change will happen overnight, i expect that the hair cells need to grow, so maybe the brain can easily adapt over time. And hopefully the T will lessen over time.