Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) 2023 Conference

I gave $25!

 

Just donated a lil bit, hope it helps. I was in Dublin for a microbiology conference last week - if only it were timed better I'd have popped over and said hello!

Thank you for attending these events and best of luck with your presentation. Slides and data look fab.

 

I gave £12.

 

I chipped in, too. Thank you very much for your time and effort, you are doing an incredible job here!

 

Prof. Shaowen Bao will present on the influence of inflammation and TNF-A on tinnitus next week at the TRI 2023.

There has been a clinical trial on going for some time for the usage of Etanercept to lower TNF-a blood value and to lower tinnitus. Prof. Shaowen Bao's name does not appear in the clinical trial documentation. If you manage to get him on camera, could you ask his opinion on this, and whether he is involved? He is the researcher that pointed to TNF-a inflammation as a potential cause for tinnitus after all.

TNF-α Treatment of Blast-Induced Tinnitus

 

Thank you for doing this. The presentation looks great! I looked at the program and I don't think the sessions on CBT or psychology will be that informative. I'm particularly interested in the last session 9A by Arnaud Norena, especially the trigeminal nerve involvement in tinnitus/hyperacusis and the keynote session on inflammation by Prof. Shaowen Bao.

 

Hello @Hazel, I have just contributed.

It would be interesting if you could find out a little more about somatosensory tinnitus.

Session 10B: Somatic modulation in hyperacusis and exploration of the movements that modulate somatosensory tinnitus.

I have two questions. Could you please ask them:

- Can somatic tinnitus be reactive to sound?
- Can somatic tinnitus worsen over time (increase in volume)?

Thank you very much and enjoy your trip to Dublin.

 

Great news, @Hazel! I sent a little too and I hope you’ll get the expenses covered. Have a good time and thanks for going to the conference on our behalf — and even giving a talk!

 

and if I don't see that bar full before next Tuesday, I'll just assume the majority of us like living with the permanent, ever worsening screech of a creature from the darkest depths of an unnamed realm, inside our heads.

 

Some of us don't have an income because of this condition. No need to shame people.

 

Done.

 

Do good and talk about it.

 

I've been unemployed 12 of the last 14 years. Currently a student with a 4 figure debt, soon to become a 5 figure debt. The 2 years of those 14 I worked, were part-time minimum wage that wouldn't have paid my journey into the office each week, only for the fact I worked from home.

If I'm the only unemployed tinnitus sufferer who can pull together a couple of quid to donate to a future where we can all work and study as much as we like again, then do please consider us all royally f*cked - because in case you didn't get the memo: no one who doesn't have permanent severe tinnitus, gives a sh*t.

 

Thank you, @Hazel, for being the voice and presence of this community! I donated but will keep my eye on the bar if more is needed.

 

If we get to $1100, I’ll throw in another $100.

Make it happen.

 

Donated 25€. Thanks for all your hard work, it’s really impressive and I’m deeply grateful.

 

Hi @Hazel, thank you for devoting your time. One thing I've noticed is a lot of the keynote speakers and attendees are neurologists, neuroscientists and psychologists. There seems to be a lack of "inner ear" and "pharmaceutical" related scientists and researchers. It has been mentioned that collaboration is required between different disciplines (Dr. Shore, Dr. De Ridder), however the line up seems weighed towards the brain.

1) I saw an update from Prof. Peter McNaughton today, who has identified HCN2 proteins causing tinnitus and a drug, developed to block these, eliminated tinnitus in animals recently. This suggests a peripheral phenomenon exists in addition to the brain as the drug does not penetrate the brain. He works at King's College London in partnership with Nottingham University. The problem he is having is, due to selectivity, the drug is also affecting HCN4 which is expressed in the heart. This is where we need pharmacology experts in drug design.

2) The work of Prof. Nicholas Barnes at Birmingham University has shown 5-HT1A neuronal loss in the DCN. He is developing a drug.

3) Development of middle ear implants to provide electrical stimulation to the inner ear has shown strong results in pilot studies.

It would be interesting to hear what the thoughts of researchers are on these areas of progress. Dr. De Ridder had no idea of the first two, and I wonder if this is universal. Researchers are discovering and working in isolation and this knowledge is not being shared. I think this is a MAJOR issue! It may be a good idea to see what level of knowledge researchers have of these findings.

The key is then linking up people who work in pharmacology to devise drugs and technology that target the above findings. Ann Elgoyhen is really the only researcher who has looked at pharmacology in tinnitus in detail, although not a pharmacologist by nature.

If I had not posted 1 & 2, would we even be aware of these findings?

 

I just donated $60. I hope I arrived on time. Thank you for your extraordinary work. I really appreciate it.

 

Good work everyone. I’m a man of my word. Another one

 

Done! Good luck @Hazel.

 

I donated a bit. Thanks for your work.

 

Just added a donation of $100 - looks like you're getting close to the target.

Tinnitus Talk is the only place providing a true voice and hope, which is incredibly important to any sufferer out there.

Hope the event goes well.

 

▲ This is why we call him "ZDaddy".

 

I donated

But just out of interest: why did they want you to pay the conference fee? @Hazel is a speaker, plus she is on the scientific committee of the conference. I have also organized events and speakers normally get their ticket for free, of course.

Please don't misunderstand it: I think the amount of travel cost is justified, it is a really sharp amount regarding hotel costs etc, you are clearly trying to keep it at a reasonable level. I appreciate it and your voluntary work!

So have a good conference! We are curious about your reporting!

P.S. Another idea for the next time: maybe you can talk to someone about this, but it would be nice if there was a livestream or videos from the keynotes.

 

That does not seem to be the case, or at least not any longer. I'd say after the pandemic? I once gave a pre-recorded talk to a (top tier) workshop and I had to pay the fee to see my own pre-recorded video lol. But usually the university of affiliation covers such fees.

EDIT: I threw in some 150 worthless Swedish Kronor (the slump is real), but I kept "anonymously" donating during the past 2+, on a monthly basis.

 

Session 2: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Two presentations on CBT: one on internet-based CBT and another on group vs. single CBT. God almighty, this smacks of retrograde nonsense and government-driven CBT on the cheap. I let them know my thoughts as have a few others. A complete waste of a time slot.

Do the researchers actually consult the tinnitus community? Many on here with sound sensitivity and hyperacusis have the worst imaginable tinnitus that is exasperated by artificial sound. Makes me want to put a baseball bat round these imbecile heads. Let's survey mild sufferers with stable tinnitus - oh look, positive results.

 

I mean, in some sense it is not even surprising. Every academic / scientific field has a gang of nostalgics that keeps playing with (and further raping) ideas that are dead and have been for the past 10-40 years, just because that is the only thing these people are capable of. They had a minuscule half original idea, maybe stolen from Freud or similar charlatans, when they were young "researchers" and that's all - now they keep vomiting the same shit over and over by changing a bit the flavour to give a better camouflage impression.