Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration — Maybe We Can Know More

Otostem added an interesting PDF about their achievements on their site, it's about 1 year old.
There is also a very nice scanned picture of the cochlea with outer/inner hair cells.
http://www.otostem.org/members/repository/downloads/OTOSTEM_PublishableSummary_P2_v1.1.pdf

 

These 2 are from Dan Browns lab in Sydney.
https://menieresresearchaustralia.org/author/djbrown32/






There is some unusual images in this paper too. Imaging tech is improving all the time. It just seems that all the high field strenght mri's are booked up by neuroscience labs, I doubt many people on here have ever even been offered a 7tesla fiesta scan, but neuro lab students click their fingers and get access instantly.

http://docdro.id/2M99lcD

 

Hello,
below you can check an article wich relate that another laboratory is trying to regenerate hearing :

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lif...-could-restore-hearing-researchers-claim.html

As you can see, they are very similar to Frequency Therapeutics in their approach.

This is really great, as a trial on human to test the effectiveness could begin in a few months !

 

I think this article is refering to the Audion trial.

 

Hi,
this is the approach of Audion Therapeutics from Amsterdam.
At the moment, there are 3 Trials for hair cell regeneration running
-Novartis with cgf166
-Frequency TX
-Audion TX
during this year some more candidates of other conpanies are planned to be selected for clinical trials:
-Soundpharmaceuticals
-Otonomy
-Otologic Pharmaceutics (Hough Ear Institute)
Maybe some more will following....

Very exciting time.

 

I believe HSCI also in August I think

 

Please provide information about this.

 

Not sure if they go by something else but this is what I’ve read from last year articles https://hsci.harvard.edu/news/harvard-researchers-regenerate-sound-sensing-cells-mice-hearing-damage https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/03/replacing-damaged-hair-cells-may-help-treat-hearing-loss/https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss

 

The first article is from 2014. The last one is from 2013. They both describe work out of Edge's lab that underlies what both Audion and Frequency are doing.

The middle article is about the McLean et al paper published last February describing what Frequency is working on.

There is nothing in these articles that suggests that HSCI is planning a trial.

 

Interesting article about Böhringer Ingelheim & Autifony.
http://www.bioworld.com/content/autifony’s-ion-channel-approach-draws-potential-741m-bi-deal

 

Most explainations for the cause of tinnitus seem to blame degeneration of the inner ear hair cells. However do we know the percentage of people with inner ear hair cell loss who don't suffer from tinnitus? Certainly many people who have been subjected to loud noise don't end up with 'permanent' tinnitus.

Has this statistic ever been captured anywhere?

Is it possible that loss of these cells may cause temporary tinnitus which in most people, the brain adapts to quickly and doesn't cause long term or 'permanent' tinnitus?

For others, perhaps the tinnitus becomes locked in due to their emotional state. Maybe it's only by dealing with that emotional state, that the vicious feedback loop of 'permanent' tinnitus can be broken...

 

I’ve noticed that every time I got new noise trauma or ototoxic trauma, that my ringing went up. So this should indicate that a loss of more hair cells would be responsible for the ringing. So if you take the same concept in reverse. Ie restoring connections by adding new hair cells, this would theoretically reduce the ringing.

 

It can be that there is no lineair relation between damage to the hearing cells and the level of tinnitus. So in some case the hearing test shows a perfect result still there is tinnitus which is caused be the little damage not detected by the test. This is just my idea. No proof.

 

I think it has more to do with the auditory nerve fibers being damaged then the hair cells however the nerve fibers won't have a signal without the hair cells. I still have my hopes up that hair cell regeneration will do something about tinnitus and hyperacusis.

 

That’s still the big mystery why some people with hearing loss don’t develop tinnitus and others do.

The “80/80 Rule states approximately 80% of all people with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) have tinnitus and approximately 80% of all people with tinnitus have SNHL.

It is worth noting, the researchers state that 90% of those with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss but only 40% of those with hearing loss suffer from tinnitus.

only a subset of patients with noise-induced hearing loss (between 20% and 40% [Hoffman and Reed, 2004]) develop chronic tinnitus

Tinnitus is reported in roughly 40% of cases [of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss]. SSHL accounts for 1% of all sensorineural hearing loss cases.

 

I'm trying to approach this the other way round. How do we know the percentage of the general population who have inner ear hair cell degradation (or any other related physical anomaly) and DONT suffer from T?

Many people put up with a degeee of hearing loss and never seek medical attention, so that data is lost. Also some people do get 'permanent' tinnitus without any noticeable physical hearing issues.

I suspect that as we get older, we all end up with some degree of hearing related degradation anyway. The mystery indeed is, why doesn't everyone end up with the more permanent version of tinnitus?

It's quite possible that everyone experiences a degree of tinnitus during their life. It's just that for some reason it doesn't spiral into the more 'permanent' problem. I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced a degree of temporary tinnitus after a loud concert or loud sound for example.

That's why I wonder whether the emotional/anxiety state at the time of first experiencing T could lock it in in some way? A loud sound could be enough to trigger that emotional state BTW!

I also suspect that those who tend to have obsessive behaviour can over focus on ailments such as tinnitus (I think that's why it took me a while to come out of the other side actually!).

 

80%-60% of people with noise-induced hearing loss don't have tinnitus. Approximately 20% of people with SNHL don't have tinnitus. Roughly 60% of people with SSHL don't have tinnitus. Couldn't find other statistics.

Yeah, I'd agree that those statistics might not be accurate. ENT doctors also can't test for hidden hearing loss yet so people might think their hearing is perfect though it's not and not everyone who has tinnitus / hearing loss goes to see a doctor for it.

Emotional and attentional state may play a role in tinnitus development and maintenance via top-down mechanisms.

 

I'm quite surprised about the high percentage of those who don't suffer any form of T after a concert...although maybe if the question asked about LOUD concerts and sounds, we might see a different result!

Stats...we can make what we like out of them...politicians are very good at it...lol

 

A treatment now or is the thread just lullull?

I remember when I was a kid, I felt like my senses was more easily triggered then, I remember when I listened to music, I got more enjoyment. It would be cool if they could regrow cells. New speakers and better sound is great but the cells are most more important.

However, it will take 20 years at least. Accepting is always the best thing and by sitting and trust every announcements companies do will you only lose all hope you have left. Those companies are profit driven.

Guys you don't have a deadly disease or ALS or Parkinson.

 

I was worried about you! Glad you're finally back so we can all enjoy your bullshit again

 

You actually think if they can restore hearing after these upcoming trials it will take 20 years to release treatment...ha ha ha you are delusional. The profit windfall would be so huge it would dwarf any common treatment by miles. They wouldn't be spending all this time and money on it if the didn't think it would work.

 

Hi, has there been anymore information about this pill.
Thank you
Sharon.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4895692/

Section about hair cell regeneration alleviating tinnitus

 

Can someone please clarify to me is frequency Therapeutics a gene therapy?

 

No, from what I understand is that it activates dormant progenitor cells in cochlea and gets them to multiple and then coverts them into functioning hair cells.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

Holy Jesus you're an idiot

 

I believe that within the next two years we'll know if the Frequency approach has merit in reversing hearing loss in living human beings as they will have completed Phase 2 by then.

 

Who knows. Maybe 20 years or hopefully sooner. Actually it is more and more admitted that hearing loss can lead to dementia, and by this occasion launch alzheimer much earlier on persons with risk, so if this issue is more and more recognized, it may be shorter until a full cure

 

Peer review is too slow for struggles like ours, this is will eventually lead to its demise, a more powerful and disruptive force is that of the market, years ago I remember someone at Alec Salts lab who now has his own r&d office scoffing at the idea of cellular repair trials beginning within 7 years, even suggesting that it would produce nothing but law suits. Well it only took 3 more years before Staecker, then Regain and now Frequency Therapeutics arrived. Well what is kind of worrying is that this lad is "plugged in" to the scene, he is much closer than us to top lab work and unpublished data etc. this sort of thing goes on at conventions and seminars. If someone like him could be that far off the mark (and he is a young man so its not like he has age to excuse himself, because lets be honest research peaks is 30's to early 40's after which there is a sharp drop in ability) how many others in the field have this "feeling of something being far away because you don't know how to do it yet"

Source: https://samharris.org/podcasts/116-ai-racing-toward-brink/


https://clyp.it/ams2uchr

 

I understand the feeling of despair. Everything which is forever is scary, and some tinnitus seems to be forever today. However you will get use to it and habituation is real. If it comes a cure it will come a cure. The thing is that if it takes 30 years from now does it mean you are 30 years older, and you will regret that you wasted so many years. And i don't think they will solve aging-process before the solve tinnitus so..

I hope there will be a cure!! But i have to stay by the opinion that if you put all your hope to different companies will you sink deeper and deeper down into despair if their trials fails.

This is a great forum and you really find the latest research here! So i come back from time to time.

Please take care everybody! And try to see the sounds as less bad, your thoughts about the sound makes all the difference.