New Study Involving Mice Gives Hope to Tinnitus Sufferers

July 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom – Tinnitus sufferers may soon get help from a source they least expected, a mouse.(http://www.turndowntinnitus.com)

Scientists from Stanford University are exploring the possibility of using human stem cells to treat hearing loss. They successfully used mouse stem cells to develop sensory hair cells which bend with sound waves and convert sound waves into electrical signals that can be sent to the brain. This type of sensory hair cell is the type that is found in the human ear, and is the type of hair cell that sustains damage during hearing loss and noise induced tinnitus.

When a sensory hair cell is damaged, it does not regenerate. This is why when many of them are damaged, permanent hearing loss or tinnitus occurs. Being able to use stem cells to replace damaged hair cells presents the possibility of reversing hearing loss and other hearing problems, such as tinnitus. Further studies need to be done, however, this time using human stem cells. Scientists need to determine whether or not it is possible to grow, develop, and harvest thousands of sensory hair cells. The human ear has about 15,000 hair cells in each year, and so stem cells need to produce a significant amount for any replacement to work.

“Doctors and scientists at Stanford are doing some really exciting research,” says Regina Jones, author of Triumph Tinnitus Today “and I think they're on the brink of finally finding a cure for tinnitus.” Jones is a mother of a tinnitus patient, and knows how difficult tinnitus sufferers have it. “It's nice to see that the medical community is really working on this problem.” she continues “Tinnitus has been robbing so many people of normal lives, and it's time we found ways to give their lives back to them.”

Many people, like Jones, are hopeful about the results of the research. Doctors are reminding people, however, that they still have a long way to go. Testing on human stem cells and seeing if the transplants will be feasible takes a while. Current tinnitus sufferers may have to wait several years before they are able to hear the benefits of stem cell transplants.

For now, tinnitus patients are advised to try and cope with their tinnitus by choosing one of the treatment options currently available to them, such as sound therapy, alternative treatments, and determining whether an underlying medical symptom is behind the noise.