
Proteins That May Restore Damaged Sound-Detecting Cells in the Ear - laurex
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/researchers-find-proteins-that-might-restore-damaged-sound-detecting-cells-in-the-ear
======
MS90
I'll be interested to see how this pans out. I have significant hearing loss
in both ears from infections as a baby, and the doctors always said it was
because the hairs in my cochlea are dead. I was denied a few opportunities
when I was younger due to my hearing, and I still can't hear most higher
frequency sounds (whistles, some cymbals, smoke detectors, fire alarms...etc).
It would be nice to be able to hear what everyone else hears and not have to
say "what?" so often.

Though, as a bald man, I've learned not to get too hopeful about scientific
advancements in regrowing hairs ;)

~~~
technofiend
Yours is worse than mine but same root cause and probably exacerbated by power
tools and loud music (and loud music at a bar called power tools) later on.
There's a huge dip in the middle of my hearing range so I can hear the clink-
clink-clink of pint glasses in a pub but people speaking to me over it is a
struggle.

~~~
MS90
Yeah, hearing people over background noise is probably the thing that I
struggle with the most. It's been a pretty big social hindrance, especially
when I was in college. In crowded social areas like bars and restaurants it's
very difficult for me to understand what people are saying. As a result, I
ended up being the weird guy just sitting there not saying anything all night
because I was unable to carry on a conversation. Hearing aids never seemed to
help, because they amplified the background noise too.

~~~
SubiculumCode
I am going to venture and say this is not related to the ear apparatus, but in
perception processing. I believe this type of deficit has been associated with
ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental disorders/variations.

~~~
RankingMember
As someone with attention issues, I've wondered if this contributes to my
issues in loud environments. I feel like it's a blend of "your brain is being
overwhelmed" and "this place actually sucks for everyone".

~~~
brokenmachine
AFAIK I don't have any hearing loss. I wouldn't say that I have attention
issues but I can't stand distracting environments - I enjoy loud music if it's
a concert and that's what I'm there for, but otherwise I can't stand it.

I agree with your assessment. I pretty much don't go to bars because of the
suckiness. You can't have a worthwhile conversation, so it's just constant
drinking in an oppressive environment.

------
scarygliders
I was hoping to read that it might also help people like myself who suffer
from tinnitus. Sadly, no.

Still, if it can restore hearing to the deaf, this is a good thing.

~~~
akeck
YMMV (from Reddit thread):

\---

Strong temporary relief from tinnitus:

Place the palms of your hands over your ears with fingers resting gently on
the back of your head. Your middle fingers should point toward one another
just above the base of your skull. Place your index fingers on top of you
middle fingers and snap them (the index fingers) onto the skull making a loud,
drumming noise. Repeat 40-50 times. Some people experience immediate relief
with this method. Repeat several times a day for as long as necessary to
reduce tinnitus.

~ Dr. Jan Strydom, of A2Z of Health, Beauty and Fitness.org.

~~~
randlet
Have tried this a couple of times with zero relief unfortunately. I have
conductive hearing loss due to otosclerosis (plaque buildup on stapes) so that
might be why it doesn't work for me.

~~~
WilTimSon
I'm fairly certain this is a case-by-case kind of "remedy". A friend of mine
had terrible tinnitus and this did not help him at all. I wonder if this has
something to do with bone structure or, perhaps, depends on the severity of
the condition. Still, it's solid advice that should be spread wide in case it
helps some people.

------
dankohn1
I have early hearing loss. If you haven't checked out hearing aids in the last
few years, they've improved significantly, although they remain appallingly
expensive.

Wired wrote up a short piece about my hearing aids at the bottom of
[https://www.wired.com/story/why-we-love-tech-better-
humans/](https://www.wired.com/story/why-we-love-tech-better-humans/)

Of course, some drops to regain perfect hearing would be far better.

------
Beltiras
My wife has premature hearing loss of an unknown cause. Doctor kind of
shrugged when asked what could be done about it. This was some 15 years ago.
I'll push her to make an appointment with a doc again to see if something new
has been discovered.

~~~
michaelbuckbee
My dad has severe hearing loss (hearing aids, etc.) but we made an interesting
discovery: bone-conduction headphones bypass the portion of his ear that's
damaged. When he first put them on he literally said: "That's better than I've
heard anything sound in a decade".

YMMV but it might be something useful to try with your wife.

~~~
wanderfowl
For what it's worth, this only works if the source of hearing loss is
conductive (e.g. eardrum or the ossicles). If your cochlea or any sub-element
(e.g. inner hair cells) are damaged, bone conduction will be _no_ different.
In fact, the comparison between acoustic and bone-conduction hearing tests is
a key element of audiological testing.

~~~
alecst
True. The classic tuning fork test: hit the fork, hold it up in front of your
ear. Can you hear it? Then gently press the end of the (still vibrating) fork
against your skull. Can you hear it now? If no/yes, the loss is conductive. If
no/no, it's sensorineural.

------
chiefalchemist
Slightly off topic but (nearly) two years ago my father had a bad stoke. They
keep him in a drug-induced coma for a week. Prior to the stroke his hearing
was pretty bad. Loud TV, etc.

In any case, after the stroke I swear his hearing wasn't as bad. I didn't have
to talk as loud. He would hear more of what was said even when it wasn't
directed at him. I have no idea if his hearing is better but all the signs
that said it was bad don't say that as much as often.

~~~
Medicalidiot
There are some conditions, like cranial nerve VII (facial nerve) palsy, where
hyperacousis is a symptom. You have a couple muscles in your ear that
attenuate sound, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that something
happened to your father and his hearing improved.

------
whalesalad
I would love the opposite... some kind of medical treatment to make my ears
less sensitive to sound. I feel constantly bombarded by noise to a point where
now I got this dorky little thing on my keychain with ear plugs in it for loud
places.

Curious if anyone here has experience w/ this and any advice.

~~~
sdfasdfsafasf
I can't hear all that great, but I am also very annoyed by noises.

I think earplugs are the best solution. I keep a box of earplugs where I am
likely to get annoyed, office, bedroom, but I also keep a box in the car so I
am likely to have them close at hand (say I go on vacation and the hotel has
rowdy neighbors). I also keep a pair in my backpack.

------
newsreview1
I have read other studies by Dr. Angelika Doetzlhofer, and she is brilliant. I
am heavily involved with disability law, and have had two very close
associates who have received treatment aimed at inner-ear hair stimulation for
balance issues. The study of molecular impediments to mammalian hair cell
regeneration could not only change lives for those who have hearing loss, but
also for those who suffer from balance issues. Thank you for the share!

------
torgian
Hell yeah. I have tinnitus from my time in the military, and this would be a
huge thing. I hope it comes to fruition in the next several years.

------
stefs
i remember about a call for volunteers for an experiment treating hearing loss
with some proteins and/or adenoviruses (not a specialist). this was a couple
of years ago and it sounded pretty much exactly like what this article
describes. a 90% success rate was expected.

as this was in the u.s. (washington dc, iirc?) and i'm not a citizen i didn't
apply. i thought it to be a game changer, but found no follow up articles.

the original search even was on HN, but i have little hope of finding it
again.

edit, after a little bit of googling:

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4464776/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4464776/)
and
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225386/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225386/)

------
woliveirajr
I'm curious if this will enable not only the recovery of those cells but also
allow us to extend our hearing range

~~~
hprotagonist
it cannot. The frequency limits of hearing are set by the length (and material
properties) of the basilar membrane, not the density of innervation.

------
fouc
Quite a few hearing impaired people had their cochlea hairs "burnt" by
audiotoxic drugs. More specifically, they caught a serious infection in the
meninges when young, and aggressive drugs were needed to save their lives.

It would be amazing if these cochlea hairs could be repaired.

------
proyb2
I was diagnosed with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss years ago and haven’t
found any cures despite some kind of Chinese acupuncture wasn’t of help.

~~~
socen
I as well was diagnosed with SSH about a year and a half ago. This was shortly
after I fell on my head in a yoga handstand class. I went to an
Audiologist/ENT and was classified as having Meniere's and ultimately there
was nothing I could do according to the doctors. I accepted this as truth
because that's what the experts say and my Meniere's wasn't so bad at the
time. Over time, the symptoms got worse and it was unbearable. My quality of
life was at the lowest point of my existence and I had to do something. I did
some research and found an article documenting people with Meniere's and how a
specific niche of Chiropractic has helped them. This isn't the original
article, but it's a copy of it:

[https://drthomasforest.com/menieres-disease-
treatment/](https://drthomasforest.com/menieres-disease-treatment/)

I did my research and started going to this doctor and within weeks I was
getting relief. Now it's been about 6 months since I started treatment and I
would say my hearing is back to normal for about 2 months now. I'm not saying
this would resolve your SSH issues, but it's an avenue worth looking at
especially if the article makes sense to you.

~~~
alecst
Yea same, correcting my posture and doing some mind-body work has made my
symptoms go away basically. I'm still improving to this day almost a year
later.

