Posted on 06/14/2013 10:28:24 AM PDT by Red Badger
Pennsylvania scientists have discovered the cause of the chronic disorder known as tinnitus, and have also found a way to treat it. Their goal is a preventive strategy for individuals whose work situations could cause them to be exposed to very loud noise.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers found that an epilepsy drug known as retigabine prevents tinnitus in animal models, according to ScienceDaily. They published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Strictly speaking, tinnitus isn't a condition, but a symptom of some type of disorder, like hearing loss related to age, a circulatory system ailment, or an injury to the ear, the Mayo Clinic reports. Tinnitus sufferers describe the buzzing, ringing, roaring, hissing, clicking, and other sounds it creates in their ears as annoying to varying degrees. For some, it's debilitating. Since there's no cure for tinnitus itself, doctors attempt to identify and treat the underlying cause.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders, about 25 million Americans have suffered from tinnitus. Among those who are at least 65, the disorder affects about 14 percent of women and more than 12 percent of men.
Knowing that tinnitus is incurable and that hearing aids don't help some patients, the Pittsburgh team sought to first find the underlying cause, then a way to treat it. They knew from prior work with mice that a connection exists between tinnitus and overactive dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) cells in the brain through which potassium ions travel. They found that hyperactivity of DCN cells is the result of a reduced level of activity in structures known as KCNQ channels.
The researchers conducted experiments that exposed mice to regulated amounts of noise, then identified those that had developed tinnitus.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Done!.............
Sexy Squirrel.....I would hit it!.............
Me too - it might also keep me from going all trance-like when I reach a yellow flashing light that is of just the right frequency...
Will somebody answer the damn phone!
lol :-)
My tinnitus stems from a thunderous firefight outside Tam Ky, Vietnam, Tet ‘69. Now that you’ve mentioned it, there it is again. Thanks...I guess.
As a result, traffic going through the nerves leaks out through the sheath and it is the sound of this traffic or impulses or frequencies that is picked up by the ear canal and is heard as a ringing sound or high-khz radio frequency sound that is called tinnitus.
BOOKMARK!
Same thing here. A grenade near Bien Ky. My right ear bleed some and there was small pebbles in my head. My VA hearing aids seem to help the ringing go away.
Oh wow THANK YOU! Wow I didnt even know I was on this ping list. What a coincidence because it has gotten much worse for me, although it isn’t ringing but more of a high pitch whistle EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...That’s all I hear all day long. It drives me NUTS!
WOW! Holy shet that actually helped! THANKS! I cant believe it!
b ttt
So, you know my girlfriend, do you?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2792703/posts
Pinging possible interested Parties.
Thanks Posterchild.
LOL! Actually now that I think about it, maybe it isn’t tinnitus but my wife! LOL!
Geez, my heart goes out to you folks. I can think of worse things, but not many.
But seriously...thank you man!
LOL, a picture for every occasion.
:)
You know...? In 1969, I was in a pretty nasty car crash (we hit a mail contractor truck who made a left turn in front of us on a rain-slick hiway) and among my other injuries, my right jaw was dislocated. Since then, I have had periodic tinnitis, and I thought “everyone” had it.
Thanks for the article! Now I know!
(But I won’t use the med for it...my body does NOT like man-made medicines.)
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