A team of researchers from Wayne State University has developed a behavioral tool that may significantly aid in understanding the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus, ultimately leading to new drugs and treatment methods, the school announced.
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Martin Basch, PhD, assistant professor of otolaryngology—head and neck surgery, has been named a recipient of a 2016 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. The award helps researchers pursue early-stage, cutting-edge biomedical pediatric research. With the award, Basch will pioneer the study of cell therapies to treat congenital strial deafness, with the goal of restoring hearing.
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The FTC held the workshop, “Now Hear This” looking at a myriad of issues surrounding technology and competition in hearing healthcare, as well as how over-the-counter hearing aids might impact customer satisfaction, the use of amplification products, consumer safety, and professional care.
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To help people with hearing loss navigate their daily lives, Nancy Tye-Murray and her colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have developed interactive gaming technology to improve speech recognition and to provide ongoing contact with an audiologist.
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St Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have used genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice, the hospital announced. The research marks a possible advance in treatment of hearing loss in humans.
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Frequency Therapeutics announced the closing of a $32 million Series A financing for what it views as a whole new category of disease-modifying therapeutics, including regrowth of inner-ear hair cells, for a wide range of degenerative conditions. The funding round was led by CoBro Ventures. Additional participating investors included Morningside Ventures, Emigrant Capital Corp, Korean Investment Partnership, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and other US and international investors.
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This year’s Summit theme was “Elevate Your Independence,” focusing on how independent hearing care professionals can succeed in an era of disruptive technology, distribution, and what may ultimately be a new regulatory environment. Included in the Summit’s General Session was a historical perspective on the current over-the-counter device proposals, as well as a review of a recent pilot study that supports professionally dispensed hearing aids over OTC.
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In a first-of-its-kind study published in the March 1, 2017 edition of Molecular Therapy, researchers from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine showed that gene therapy was able to restore balance and hearing in genetically modified mice that mimic Usher syndrome.
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Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, together with colleagues from the European research network TINNET, recently published a study in Genetics in Medicine showing evidence that tinnitus may have genetic causes.
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The first-ever placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial of hearing aid outcomes shows that older adults benefit from hearing aid use, including over-the-counter (OTC) devices. There were no significant differences in outcome between the OTC and audiology best-practice service-delivery approaches for 5 of the 6 outcome measures, but the OTC group fared somewhat worse when it came to satisfaction with their hearing aids. Fewer OTC participants were also likely to purchase their hearing aids after the trial (55% for the OTC group vs 81% for the best practices group, with 36% for the placebo group).
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A powerful class of antibiotics provides life-saving relief for people with cystic fibrosis; however, a new study for the first time reveals the levels at which high cumulative dosages over time significantly increases the risk of permanent hearing loss in these patients, according to a press release from Oregon Health and Science University.
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A new approach, published in “Cell Reports,” to regenerate inner ear sensory hair cells is said to lay the groundwork for treating chronic noise-induced hearing loss by the company, Frequency Therapeutics, and its co-founders who are drawing on research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, and MIT. The program is expected to progress to into human clinical trials within the next 18 months.
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Hearing loss prevention helps maintain lifelong musical enjoyment. According to authors John Hutchings, MD, and Bethany Ewald Bultman, when performing or listening to music, one should always employ high-quality earplugs, avoid undue direct exposure to the sound, and limit alcohol intake which can lessen awareness of the pain of louder sounds.
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This pilot study indicates that individuals supported by a hearing care professional experienced significantly better participant outcomes across all metrics, including daily usage of the hearing solution, how well each solution met expectations, and overall satisfaction rates.
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According to a report on NPR, Americans are getting Alzheimer’s and other dementia at a declining rate. Researchers say more aggressive treatments of co-morbidities and higher education in the population are factors.
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