Tinnitus Center Mass General Ear and Eye

I was reading an article in the hair cell regeneration thread and sent an email to Mass General Ear and Eye on the potential of the protein NT3 also being effective in treating those with Tinnitus and this was there response.

http://www.masseyeandear.org/news/press_releases/recent/2014_Nature_Liberman/

Hello Mary I found the above article fascinating if I could I’d like to ask if you thought that the protein NT3 would also effect those who have tinnitus?
Thank you
Carlos


Thank you so much for reaching out to us. At this time we don’t think that this protein will effect tinnitus. However, you will be glad to know that our new Chief of Otolaryngology, Dr. Brad Welling, is developing a comprehensive Tinnitus Center here at Mass. Eye and Ear. We are currently fundraising for this effort and if you or anyone you know might be in a position to assist, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss the goals of the center.
Thank you again and best regards,
Robin
Robin Popp
Senior Director of Development
Major Gifts-Otolaryngology
Mass. Eye and Ear
243 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 573-3303
Bold Science. Life Changing Cures.

 

I'm in the Boston area and would be interested in getting involved somehow.

Is there anything in particular we can help out with?

 

I'd love to start or help raise money ...hopefully we can come up with some idea's
Mass General is an outstanding hospital and when they get behind something results usually get produced.
We need to bring this to the attention of the board and come up with idea's maybe @Markku can help in this.

 

Agreed.

Unless they can document their raison d'être and explain how their "tinnitus centre" will provide value to the public beyond what current clinical trials are aiming to do, then this is just a waste of time. And money.

Businesses that know what they are doing will get the funding they need. Businesses that don't, won't. Simple as that.

 

You can blow it off I'll keep tabs on it ....Mass General has a great reputation but I do understand your skepticism. I'm glad that more and more attention is being given to our condition.

 

Mass General is arguably the best hospital in the USA. Last I checked, they already had a Tinnitus Center, headed by Dr. Chemali. They had almost a 2 year waitlist. A friend of mine is a doctor at Mass Gen and spoke with her and she said they need more resources so I think that is what they are trying to do.

 

I mean - and meant - no disrepect to either the hospital staff or the original poster of the thread. I am simply looking at the initiative from a finance point-of-view. There are - as you know - already pharmacological companies with up to 10 years of know-how in the field (I added "year founded" to the otology-company listing I have provided this forum with earlier on). So to start "re-inventing" the wheel at this stage is... well... it just does not really make sense to me. Of course, they may be pursuing something "new" - which is fine (maybe), but then let's see what that "something else" is.

Indeed, after having met Prof. Jeanmonod last week, I more than ever have the impression that the medical field is somewhat fragmented and uncoordinated. For instance, the professor did not seem to know about either of the current on-going tinnitus clinical trials (AM+AUT) and LLLT he had never heard of. As such, I am not surprised, because he is a neurologist; similarly, I am sure that if I asked the highly competent folks at the Acquaklinik - headed by prof. Strauss - that they most likely would not know about Prof. Jeanmonod's impressive work. Same story with Dr. Wilden - in fact, he does not want to talk about anything else than LLLT. Period!

So we have a lot of bright minds out there - but all working in their own little "cubicles". And to someone such as myself - a person working at the European HQ of a supersize tanker of a corporation with 500,000 employees - that just screams (lack of) management. And I am very "allergic" to lack of management as well as people re-inventing the wheel; re-inventing the wheel does not add business value and needs to be stopped (= waste of resources).

 

The main cause of Tinnitus for many people is from lost connections of nerve fibers from hair cells in the ear. As explained clearly in the first article here:

http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-and-hidden-hearing-loss

The faulty connections between the auditory nerve and hair cells in the inner ear cause a side-effect where the gain increase is an amplification of neuronal noise, which gives rise to increased spontaneous activity of the nerve cells and the subject develops tinnitus.

Another article describing the loss of nerve fibers

http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/159th/liberman.htm

And Another article talking about the hidden hearing loss

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/

Nt-3 has shown to regrow the auditory nerve back towards remaining hair cells in the inner ear after disconnection of the synpases.

This article talks about the use of it

https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/oto...afened-mice-pointing-way-new-therapies-humans

The deterioration of the nerves in our ears are most likely the cause of age-related hearing loss which gives reason to why people struggle to still hear with hearing aids. Hearing Aids do their job in amplifying sounds for us but with the loss of nerve fibers, it becomes so much more difficult for the brain to focus on sounds.

http://thehearingblog.com/archives/3755


Hidden hearing loss is Tinnitus.

 

@Nick Pyzik Nick thank you for the update. I have stayed in contact with MGH and have made myself available for any clinical trials. I remain hopeful

Carlos

 

I will contact MGH they sent me a letter or brochure saying that they have a Tinnitus center there and to call to get on the list

 

What was your experience? Who did you see? Who is considered the best eat Dr there? Thanks for the help.

 

Mass Eye and Ear Capital Campaign Concludes with $252 Million Raised to Advance Research and Patient Care

 

Give it to Hough Ear Institute, they seem to be panhandling for money.

 

I'd rather have Mass Eye and Ear have it lol.

 

MGH is my hospital and health care provider -
So I am there often.
Well... not so much since the pandemic began.

Anyway - just be aware that there are some extremely serious things going on at Mass Eye and Ear -
All day everyday.
Their Trauma Center is a particularly gruesome place -
And complaints of ringing ears are not a priority in any way whatsoever -
Trust me.

Also - you need to realize there is virtually no significant profit to be made yet from dealing with “tinnitus people” -
And therefore you get treated accordingly.

You can argue otherwise all you want -
But that’s the reality of the situation there.

Once things settle down I will stroll through and try to get some info in person on any advancements in the “Tinnitus Program”.

The last time I was there the only thing they did was refer me to a physical therapist who tried to massage my tinnitus away.

I could have killed myself and the therapist for taking the day out of work for that nonsense.

Hope everyone is Ok.