Posted on 01/12/2011 12:18:22 PM PST by Red Badger
Scientists have found a way to ease chronic ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, by stimulating a neck nerve and playing sounds to reboot the brain, according to research published Wednesday.
There is currently no cure for tinnitus, which can range from annoying to debilitating and affects as many as 23 million adults in the United States, including one in 10 seniors and 40 percent of military veterans.
For Gloria Chepko, 66, who has suffered from tinnitus since she was four years old, the sound she describes as "like crickets... but also bell-like," gets worse when she is tired.
"It's awful," she said. "Sometimes it is very loud, and it will get loud if I am under stress or if I have been going for a very long time and I am fatigued," she said.
"If my mind is tired and I sit down I will only hear this sound."
For some people, such as military veterans who are left with hearing damage after exposure to loud blasts and gunfire, the noise -- which could also sound like roaring, whooshing or clicking -- interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.
The US Veterans Administration spends one billion dollars per year on disability payments related to tinnitus, the most common service-related ailment in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, industry experts say.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by hearing loss or nerve damage, to which the brain tries but fails to adjust.
"Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma cause irregular neural activity believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus," said Michael Kilgard of the University of Texas, co-author of the study in the journal Nature.
"We believe the part of the brain that processes sounds -- the auditory cortex -- delegates too many neurons to some frequencies, and things begin to go awry," he said.
To fix that, researchers used rats to test a theory that they could reset the brain by retraining it so that errant neurons return to their normal state.
In rats with tinnitus, they electrically stimulated the vagus nerve, which runs from the head through the neck to the abdomen, in combination with playing a certain high-pitched tone.
When stimulated, the nerve can encourage changes in the brain by releasing chemicals such as acetylcholine and norepinephrine that act as neurotransmitters.
Rats that underwent the pairing of noise and stimulation experienced a halt to the ringing sounds for up to three and a half months, while control rats that received just noise or just stimulation did not.
An examination of neural responses in the auditory cortexes showed normal levels in the rats who were treated with the combination of stimulation and sound, indicating the tinnitus had disappeared.
The treatment "not only reorganized the neurons to respond to their original frequencies, but it also made the brain responses sharper," the study said.
"The key is that, unlike previous treatments, we're not masking the tinnitus, we're not hiding the tinnitus," said Kilgard.
"We are returning the brain from a state where it generates tinnitus to a state that does not generate tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus." Clinical trials are expected to begin on humans in the coming months, with the first trials starting in Europe, according to lead study author Navzer Engineer. The process of vagus nerve stimulation, known as VNS, is already being used in the treatment of around 50,000 people with epilepsy or depression, the study said. "This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs," said Engineer. "Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound." Like many sufferers, Chepko has learned to cope with the noise. "I have to find some other way to relax to just endure it, take a bath or do stretches or just lie down and stare or read a book, depending on how bad it is," she said. "I have kind of lived around it, or over it."
Man, that must have been some show.
Re-booting the brain could lead to lots of good things. I hope this works.
Didn’t work for me. I have tried everything. Herbal remedies, masking, nothing works. How long do these trials usually take? I’ll volunteer tonight.
FYI
Black Sabbath was good, back in the day.
Ozzy was skinny...............
What they are doing doesn’t seem to be risky at all. Hopefully this can be made available quickly if the trials are successful.
Fireworks, Ruger Blackhawk, and 4 years on the Lexington for me.
I hope it works as well for those suffering from tinnitus.
Threshold shift, getting the input down by 33 db for a third of the day resets the auditory program & gives your little clangers a good rest.
I also spend a good part of most days with the best Sony noise canceling earbuds.
If nothing else, it's very peaceful.
LOL... made me think of that idiot, Quaid in ‘Christmas Vacation.’ ;0)
LOL... made me think of that idiot, Quaid in ‘Christmas Vacation.’ ;0)
There are all kinds of reasons for tinnitus, and that is why so many people have a pet “cure”.
I had mind for a while when I was in my teens, along with vertigo. I was diagnosed with Meniere’s, and soon found that by taking chromium it disappeared. It recurred recently when I had a low RBC count. Once I got a transfusion it disappeared again.
Some people swear by MSG, by salt, etc. I know someone who was in tank warfare and got a good case he never was able to get rid of.
With my brain I'd probably get by with an old floppy disk /grin
Sorry for double post. Don’t know why it posted twice.
they get around it-— for instance they disguise msg with other names, and when it says “no msg added” that means it’s chock full already. organic turkey bacon will say that, but it’s loaded. restaurants and fast food places heap it on, it makes old rotten tasteless food taste good
How do they know whether or not the rat is experiencing ringing in its ear?
it also makes you fat and I would venture to say it is one cause for obesity since it’s in everything. Also China is supplying it to us by the tons, so just imagine what’s in it
By that same quality of scientific measure, Muslim Presidents, cold winters or severe recessions also cure tinnitus.
so do some research, neurotoxins for instance, by the way, China only wants what’s good for you
That was a real scientific process you followed there to make reach such a specific conclusion.
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