Frequency Therapeutics — Hearing Loss Regeneration

[Vinnitus]

To be honest I don't even think it will work I mean I have read some old stuff like this and it always turns out not to work after the trial why would it be any different now?

Well, the approach is different, and may I say more "promising" in this one. Unlike the Genvec method, the Frequency method tries to trigger and facilitate a natural process already present in the mammalian ear for regenerating the inner-ear cells. This process is the same process which formed your inner ear during the embryonic state, it just became dormant once the full inner-ear was formed. In birds, this process seems to stay active, giving them the ability to recover from hearing damage. This was an important discovery leading to this approach.

One could argue triggering this natural process again might also be safer than what Genvec did. Genvec's delivery method was invasive (making a hole in the cochlea) and they didn't make use of the natural process described above, which increases the chance of uncontrolled growth among other potential problems. The Frequency method appears to use round-window diffusion by tympanic injection. In my opinion it is preferable to stay close to what nature does and minimise invasiveness. Nature usually does these kind of things better than we can (at least currently).

We have to see how Frequency's method will turn out, but I have to say I am excited.

 

[Reinier]

the Frequency method tries to trigger and facilitate a natural process already present in the mammalian ear for regenerating the inner-ear cells.

Exactly for that reason I have wondered if there is a possibility that correct hair cells (length/inner/outer hair cell) and their subsequent location in the cochlea is "taken care of" by this natural process. The supporting cells (was it supporting cells with LGR5 marker?) that are instructed to differentiate are already at the correct location. I wonder if the support cell will only differentiate if the adjacent hair cell is damaged/gone.
Is this process getting close to processes in inner ears of birds after damage?

 

[RB2014]

Agreed. I would also note the number of places where he says "could".

It's a very reasonable hypothesis - particularly given that some people improve with hearing aids. However, many people do not improve. This may be because there is damage that the hearing aid cannot compensate for - increased firing rates due to synaptic damage that is not helped by HAs - or it could be for some other reason.

It's simply unclear how frequently it might improve things or by how much. It will be interesting to get to a point where it is possible to induce hearing loss in mice, verify tinnitus (assuming you believe existing animal models), restore hearing, and then see if there is evidence the tinnitus is gone.

I am one of the people that benefit greatly from HAs. As far as I know I only have hair cell damage due to genetic factors. I have posted many times, but I can take out my HA and within 5 minutes my T will go from a 1 to a 6. I put it back in and let natural sounds enter and its back to a 1. The brain is very plastic and assuming your T is due to hair cell death, I have a strong feeling hair cell regeneration will cure T or at least help it greatly.

I also have another theory on people that have hearing loss but no T. They have T, they just don't realize it, just like I didnt realize it today until I got on this forum. My HA's also kept it at bay all these years until I had anxiety and stress and it got loud. Once it found me the best I can do is get it to a 1 or 0 if I am not aware and my mind concentrates on something else.

I'm pretty excited that this would be a cure for T for people that just have hair cell damage, assuming you can get 100 percent of your hearing back. At a min it could take a 6 to a 1 or a 2. After you have had intrusive T (10), living with T at a level of 1 is like a vacation and I could be extremely happy with that.

 

[Samir]

The brain obviously has a role in this because the brain controls literally everything in our body.

Of course, the brain is the main character in this play. The cochlea only has a supporting role.

The hair cells or ribbon synapse. Either one is the broken input that is causing the ringing.

I really hope it's that simple! If we can call that simple at all. But I would not be too quick to exclude higher functions in the auditory pathway. Such as cochlear nucleus, superior olive, inferior colliculus, etc. These structures are super important!

While I was reading a lot about tinnitus, I found at least two references in different texts saying that up until recently scientists didn't even know that the brain-stem is capable of neuroplasticity. They thought that only the neocortex possessed neuroplasticity.

There is just so little we know about the brain. It is still the least explored and least understood organ. Yet it defined who we are! Hopefully our understanding of the brain will increase significantly in the short term, thanks to the national and international efforts to increase brain research activity. There are also several technological advancements that allow new insights in brain research.

Since there is a lot of research right now going into restoring sensory hair cells (and maybe their synapses), like most people with tinnitus, I am hoping that these efforts will - at least by proxy - also reduce/cure tinnitus. Most researchers are pretty much saying the same thing. But we don't know that yet, do we? It's a blind shot! Just like all the tinnitus "cure" methods we have seen so far. But this one, I believe, has better chance to succeed.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but we have to bear in mind that restoring sensory hair cells and their synapses is primarily aimed at restoring hearing function. Remember that! If it works for tinnitus... well that would be a great bonus! Would it not? But they are primarily concerned with restoring hearing function, not to suppress tinnitus.

Of course we have to start somewhere! We can start with the cochlea with its sensory and nerve cells, and if we get to the point where we can finally do this - which I hope Frequency and others will help with - we might finally start getting some interesting results, and an answer to this hypothetical tinnitus cure.

Wouldn't you hate it if you were able to restore perfect hearing, but you were still stuck with tinnitus?

All I want to say is that we can't close this one off as if we have found the holy grail for tinnitus cure. We don't know that yet. Inner ear regeneration is very much welcome. But we are just gonna have to wait this out and see how these regenerative therapies play out when tinnitus is concerned. If it works for a majority of tinnitus patients, then great! But if it barely works at all in tinnitus patients, then we will have to take a different approach.

We have to keep an open mind about it. If tinnitus cure is primarily what we want, then we might consider following other leads, not just restoring the inner ear. Remember that restoring the inner ear by neogeneration of sensory and nerve cells is primarily aimed at restoring hearing function. There are people who have normal or nearly normal hearing and still have tinnitus. We might be inclined to blame this on the so called hidden hearing loss, i.e. cochlear synaptopathy. But we don't know that for sure, do we?

Just keep an open mind and stay hopeful. I like @Rasmus approach to this.

 

[Paulmanlike]

I am one of the people that benefit greatly from HAs. As far as I know I only have hair cell damage due to genetic factors. I have posted many times, but I can take out my HA and within 5 minutes my T will go from a 1 to a 6. I put it back in and let natural sounds enter and its back to a 1. The brain is very plastic and assuming your T is due to hair cell death, I have a strong feeling hair cell regeneration will cure T or at least help it greatly.

I also have another theory on people that have hearing loss but no T. They have T, they just don't realize it, just like I didnt realize it today until I got on this forum. My HA's also kept it at bay all these years until I had anxiety and stress and it got loud. Once it found me the best I can do is get it to a 1 or 0 if I am not aware and my mind concentrates on something else.

I'm pretty excited that this would be a cure for T for people that just have hair cell damage, assuming you can get 100 percent of your hearing back. At a min it could take a 6 to a 1 or a 2. After you have had intrusive T (10), living with T at a level of 1 is like a vacation and I could be extremely happy with that.

Do your hearing aids reduce it from 6 to 1 even in a quiet environment e.g. In bed? Or do they just help when out and about as you are able to hear external sounds better?

 

[Samir]

Could it be someone has loss up 8 hz and hearing aid fixes that. But what about someone with with loss in 8 hz and below range also has high frequency hearing loss above 8hz then hearing aid can't help that.

20 - 8000 Hz loss: hearing aids helps
20 - 20000 Hz loss: hearing aids don't help

You mean something like that?

 

[Samir]

Nature usually does these kind of things better than we can (at least currently).

At least currently? Nature always does it better!

 

[Jim51042]

We can start with the cochlea with its sensory and nerve cells, and if we get to the point where we can finally do this - which I hope Frequency and others will help with - we might finally start getting some interesting results, and an answer to this hypothetical tinnitus cure.

It makes sense to start with the cochlea. One the cochlea and hearing is fairly self contained so a treatment to it wouldn't necessarily impact other parts of the body. That is not true for treatments to the brain and thus makes those drugs a lot hard to target.

I really hope Frequency has very clearly defined results (preferably in the positive) because very slight improvements to hearing (5-10 dB) might not be able to definitively confirm the link between hearing and tinnitus. A large improvement say 50 dB of gain in hearing threshold in the Frequency trial would put this question to bed.

 

[Samir]

Exactly for that reason I have wondered if there is a possibility that correct hair cells (length/inner/outer hair cell) and their subsequent location in the cochlea is "taken care of" by this natural process. The supporting cells (was it supporting cells with LGR5 marker?) that are instructed to differentiate are already at the correct location. I wonder if the support cell will only differentiate if the adjacent hair cell is damaged/gone.
Is this process getting close to processes in inner ears of birds after damage?

I don't know if you saw the post I made where Will McLean tried to answer some of these questions for me. But basically, yes. This is why their approach may be most successful. They are using the cells that are already there. They are not doing cell transplants where you grow the cells in a dish and then put them in, hoping that they will survive and integrate at just the right location.

They are using biological cues that are already present in your ear, to orchestrate a second cycle of hear cell generation. They are not targeting all supporting cells, only a certain subtype, so called progenitor cells.

Yes, I think this is very much like the process you see in birds.

Since this is a natural process, you would only need to set this in motion, the body would take care of the entire process, just like when you were first born. So it will know when to put the breaks on and stop. It should be pretty safe, not much risk for immune system response (unlike stem cell therapy) or uncontrolled cell growth (gene therapy).

I wonder if the support cell will only differentiate if the adjacent hair cell is damaged/gone.

Very good question! I'm not sure if I can answer it.

I still don't understand some of the details about this process, and frankly I don't think the scientists at Frequency fully understand it yet either. But knowing what I know now, I would say that all progenitor cells would differentiate to hair cells. Would that include neogeneration of hair cells even where there already are healthy hear cells? I can't answer that. I really, really would like to know the answer to that myself.

But I do not think these molecules are like "self aware" or "smart" in a sense that they know to only hone in on and differentiate progenitor cells where there are missing hair cells. Because if they could do that!... my jaw would drop like this! That would be some cure!!! I don't think they can do that, not yet. What Frequency is doing is already advanced type of therapy. If they could do what I think you're asking that would be even more advanced therapy.

So what happens then? What happens when the molecules trigger progenitor cell differentiation where there are already healthy hair cells?... I would like to ask Dr. McLean that very question. My hope is that these progenitors don't result in hair cells that are competing with the existing hair cells.

The progenitor cells are just one type of cue! If they could find another cue, something relating to cell junctions, they could perhaps target only progenitors at junctions where there are missing/dead hair cells and leave the healthy cells alone. Notch signaling or Wnt signaling perhaps? They probably need to do more research on that. But that would be the perfect solution.

 

[DoNotGoGentle]

20 - 8000 Hz loss: hearing aids helps
20 - 20000 Hz loss: hearing aids don't help

You mean something like that?

Yeah I mean I have lower hearing loss noise notch and also have high frequency hearing loss due to ear infection. So hearing aid did not help me. My loss from ear infection is 30 db and noise notch is 25 db go figure right.

 

[Samir]

@DoNotGoGentle yeah I think hearing aids work best when you have only a few and tightly spaced cellular lesions in the cochlea. I don't think it matters much if it's in the lows, mids, or highs.

 

[Paulmanlike]

Let me get this right then, I will go for a hearing test (as still unaware if I have a hearing loss) but I have a low frequency tinnitus between 1000- 2000khz, and if I do have a mild loss because I would of noticed a moderate loss, a hearing aid might help my tinnitus?

And what do we mean by helping tinnitus? Does that mean by masking with external sources or would the reduction in volume also be present in quiet setting (in bed)?

Sure I heard something that not only a hearing aid helps u more aware of outside sound but it increases acoustic stimulation in the frequencies you lost and helps tinnitus reduce that way?

 

[Jim51042]

What happens when the molecules trigger progenitor cell differentiation where there are already healthy hair cells?

I think Frequency would know the answer to this question. I agree they likely can't control this process but they would have been able to view its effects.

 

[Vinnitus]

Exactly for that reason I have wondered if there is a possibility that correct hair cells (length/inner/outer hair cell) and their subsequent location in the cochlea is "taken care of" by this natural process. The supporting cells (was it supporting cells with LGR5 marker?) that are instructed to differentiate are already at the correct location. I wonder if the support cell will only differentiate if the adjacent hair cell is damaged/gone.
Is this process getting close to processes in inner ears of birds after damage?

Very good question. As far as I am informed at this point, Frequency's method aims to trigger the same natural cascade of events which happened during the embryonic stage. Whether this also acts favourably in case of a cochlea where only certain parts are damaged, remains to be seen. In birds, which apparently are able to recover from a partially damaged cochlea, this appears to be the case. This might indicate something positive, but it is yet to be determined in humans. You might find the following interesting though in relation to this.

Studies in 2014 found the molecule Bmp7 present in mammalian inner ears during development. This molecule seems to play a role in developing hair cells specialised in lower frequencies, because when exposed to this marker, both hair cells at low- and high frequency locations started showing characteristics of low-frequency hair cells. The concentration of bmp7 in the high-frequency locations of the cochlea appears lower than in the cochlear apex, where the lower frequencies reside. The expectation is that the gradual reduction of the concentration of Bmp7 plays a role in the frequency-tuning of the hair cells. The concentration appears highest near the hair cells responsible for the lower frequencies, as to be expected, and gradually becomes lower when the frequencies increase. Another signaling molecule, called "retinoic acid", appears to help with the correct tonotopical organisation and pattern of the hair cells. The studies are linked below.

Studies:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24845721
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24845860

And a nice explaining article here:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/hearing-different-frequencies

Surely there are more molecules involved for specific locations in the cochlea and hence for developing frequency-dependent types of hair cells with their own characteristics. It would be nice if Frequency's approach triggered the naturally present infrastructure of these molecules and replenished hair cells where needed, as this would prevent the need to specifically know each molecule individually and it's working before we can get to any reasonable treatment. It could provide a shortcut to something usable as a treatment while the rest of the molecules are being figured out (I believe Decibel Therapeutics aims to do this more thoroughly). Ultimately the better we know all the molecules involved, the more effective and targeted the treatments can become, of course.

Like @Samir said above, identifying the specific damaged frequencies, the specific molecules for treating them and escorting those to the right place (if this does not happen due to some natural process) in the cochlea is a much more advanced task at hand. Let's both hope Frequency's method is able to repair a partially damaged cochlea without malicious side-effects and that it's at least effective till some extend. It would make for a minimally invasive treatment requiring less knowledge. But let's not forget; during the embryonic state the cochlea is formed from scratch. The outcome with a partially damaged cochlea is perhaps different (short term or long term). There are still quite some uncertainties here.

 

[RB2014]

Do your hearing aids reduce it from 6 to 1 even in a quiet environment e.g. In bed? Or do they just help when out and about as you are able to hear external sounds better?

The hearing aides help in quiet environments as well. It is never truly quiet though.

Let me get this right then, I will go for a hearing test (as still unaware if I have a hearing loss) but I have a low frequency tinnitus between 1000- 2000khz, and if I do have a mild loss because I would of noticed a moderate loss, a hearing aid might help my tinnitus?

And what do we mean by helping tinnitus? Does that mean by masking with external sources or would the reduction in volume also be present in quiet setting (in bed)?

Sure I heard something that not only a hearing aid helps u more aware of outside sound but it increases acoustic stimulation in the frequencies you lost and helps tinnitus reduce that way?

A hearing aide might help your tinnitus. It is not always the case though. By help, it actually lowers the volume of the tinnitus, it doesn't just mask it. Yes, by increasing volume of the lost frequencies it basically gives you normal hearing again and the brain senses this and cuts the sound. Once the cochlea is fixed, the brain no longer produces the phantom sound. In this case the hearing aides provide the missing frequencies.

If you had a bad stressful day, took some nicotine, caffeine, had some anxiety and maybe depression, the hearing aides won't do anything.

But let's not forget; during the embryonic state the cochlea is formed from scratch. The outcome with a partially damaged cochlea is perhaps different (short term or long term). There are still quite some uncertainties here.

Agreed, there are some uncertainties, but as you mentioned previously, it works for the birds so there is hope that this can work for humans as well. I guess at this point we are hoping the cochlea just fixes what needs to be fixed, because if someone has 0 loss at 500hz and it boosts that level to plus 50db, then that would probably give you something similar to H at those frequencies which could be quite unpleasant.

 

[DoNotGoGentle]

Hey hate to be Debbie downer but spoke with heart transpalant resident and asked him about progenitors cells and heart repair he said hey are dangerous right now in studies they can't control them turn in to tumors. He said it would be really cool to heal your heart. He said 10 years. Never asked him about repairing a ear. Good news he thinks that treatment is hopeful for the heart. I am hopeful for the ear.

 

[Aaron123]

Hey hate to be Debbie downer but spoke with heart transpalant resident and asked him about progenitors cells and heart repair he said hey are dangerous right now in studies they can't control them turn in to tumors.

As I posted earlier, at least in the GI tract, lgr5+ cells serve as cancer stem cells: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaap/ncurrent/full/nature22081.html

 

[Paulmanlike]

The hearing aides help in quiet environments as well. It is never truly quiet though.



A hearing aide might help your tinnitus. It is not always the case though. By help, it actually lowers the volume of the tinnitus, it doesn't just mask it. Yes, by increasing volume of the lost frequencies it basically gives you normal hearing again and the brain senses this and cuts the sound. Once the cochlea is fixed, the brain no longer produces the phantom sound. In this case the hearing aides provide the missing frequencies.

If you had a bad stressful day, took some nicotine, caffeine, had some anxiety and maybe depression, the hearing aides won't do anything.



Agreed, there are some uncertainties, but as you mentioned previously, it works for the birds so there is hope that this can work for humans as well. I guess at this point we are hoping the cochlea just fixes what needs to be fixed, because if someone has 0 loss at 500hz and it boosts that level to plus 50db, then that would probably give you something similar to H at those frequencies which could be quite unpleasant.

Interesting. Being somebody who suffers tinnitus with no noticeable loss of hearing, I'm curious if one may help me. I guess I'll see if I have a loss first, but I wonder if they would give me one if it's only minor as otherwise I hear fine?

On my research I was under the impression they only help by making you more aware of external sounds. However @carlover has noticed his tinnitus decrease in quiet settings as well.

I'm sure my audiologist has said that it can help too something about stimulating the lost frequencies.

I guess this will be next avenue in attempting to reduce it. It's night time that bothers me the most, any reduction would be a blessing.

 

[DoNotGoGentle]

@DoNotGoGentle yeah I think hearing aids work best when you have only a few and tightly spaced cellular lesions in the cochlea. I don't think it matters much if it's in the lows, mids, or highs.

I am talking about out of the range what they don't test on standered audiogram. Like around 16 hz I have 30 db loss hearing aids won't help.

 

[papu]

As I posted earlier, at least in the GI tract, lgr5+ cells serve as cancer stem cells:

"Here, we demonstrate that human LGR5+ colorectal cancer cells serve as CSCs in growing cancer tissues."

I think its actually referring to LGR5+ in already form colorectal cancer not the one present in normal colon and rectum tissue. Just my interpretetion.

 

[Samir]

I am talking about out of the range what they don't test on standered audiogram. Like around 16 hz I have 30 db loss hearing aids won't help.

I think I see what you mean now.

• Standard hearing test does not test frequencies above 8000 Hz.
• Hearing aids don't work with frequencies above 8000 Hz.

This is what you mean?

Well I know the first part is true. Only extended frequency (EF) hearing tests will tell you how well you hear above 8000 Hz. My understanding is that these are only done in research labs.

I had to do a web search to figure out the second part. As it turns out, hearing aids are indeed limited to about 6000 to 8000 Hz, depending on device model. But there are improvements in technology now that allow amplification beyond 8000 Hz.

From AG Bell association:

Traditionally, hearing aids have been unable to provide sufficient amplification for sounds beyond 4,000 to 6,000 Hz.
(...)
Recently, several manufacturers have introduced "extended bandwidth" hearing aids, which promote improved receivers that sufficiently amplify sounds to 8,000 Hz and beyond.

Source: http://www.agbell.org/ParentGuideHA.aspx

I am open to any kind of technology that allows people to hear. But personally, I think cochlear implants and hearing aids have played out their role. We need something radically better! A radical improvement of current hearing technology would be a good addition to what we currently have. But I don't think we will be anywhere near replacing biological ears by using technology, not in the next 100 years or more.

We are constantly mimicking nature, but whatever invention we come up with, nature always beats us to it, because it does the same thing several times better! Nature is the best and oldest inventor of all time. Instead of relying on devices like cochlear implants and hearing aids, we should focus on biological solutions. After all, we are biological beings, not mechanical robots.

We are finally at a point in time where we can uncover great secrets of our own biology, the biology of other lifeforms, learn and apply this new knowledge to our own advantage. We are already doing that right this moment. We should give these biotech companies a chance. Even without any immediate therapy available, these companies should be given more credit than what they are currently getting.

We seem to be mostly consumed by our own needs and health problems, we don't see the big picture. These are the beginnings of a new chapter in medicine and healthcare. But the kind of change that these companies want to make does not happen over one night.

Besides, cochlear implants and hearing aids are not suitable for everyone. We should at least explore other options. I am grateful that these people and these companies are doing just that.

All the flowers of tomorrow are hidden in the seeds that are sown today.

 

[DoNotGoGentle]

Not sure if this has been posted sorry if it has been.

 

[jcloth]

A bit more good news. I got in touch with Will McLean and asked him:

The findings that have been published so far involve cochleae removed from mice, primates and a human. I see that in 18 months there will be live human trials. Has there/will there be data from live animal experiments prior to that?

He answered:

We have promising animal data

 

[acufenero]

A bit more good news. I got in touch with Will McLean and asked him:

The findings that have been published so far involve cochleae removed from mice, primates and a human. I see that in 18 months there will be live human trials. Has there/will there be data from live animal experiments prior to that?

He answered:

We have promising animal data

Isn't this what all researchers say?

 

[jcloth]

I'll take it lol

 

[Paulmanlike]

You know when noise damages our ears and we end up with tinnitus, the most delicate part are the nerve fibres, and are usually damaged before any hair cells (according to my research) this forms as "hidden hearing loss". So are frequency attempting to repair these nerve fibres and not just regenerate hair cells? Or would repairing hair cells go on to form healthy nerve fibres?

Not as up to date here so please shine some light.

 

[DoNotGoGentle]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...am-Strengthened-Executive-Level-Hire-Internal

More news

 

[jcloth]

Excellent. They're the real deal

 

[Kekistan]

Of course, the brain is the main character in this play. The cochlea only has a supporting role.


I really hope it's that simple! If we can call that simple at all. But I would not be too quick to exclude higher functions in the auditory pathway. Such as cochlear nucleus, superior olive, inferior colliculus, etc. These structures are super important!

While I was reading a lot about tinnitus, I found at least two references in different texts saying that up until recently scientists didn't even know that the brain-stem is capable of neuroplasticity. They thought that only the neocortex possessed neuroplasticity.

There is just so little we know about the brain. It is still the least explored and least understood organ. Yet it defined who we are! Hopefully our understanding of the brain will increase significantly in the short term, thanks to the national and international efforts to increase brain research activity. There are also several technological advancements that allow new insights in brain research.

Since there is a lot of research right now going into restoring sensory hair cells (and maybe their synapses), like most people with tinnitus, I am hoping that these efforts will - at least by proxy - also reduce/cure tinnitus. Most researchers are pretty much saying the same thing. But we don't know that yet, do we? It's a blind shot! Just like all the tinnitus "cure" methods we have seen so far. But this one, I believe, has better chance to succeed.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but we have to bear in mind that restoring sensory hair cells and their synapses is primarily aimed at restoring hearing function. Remember that! If it works for tinnitus... well that would be a great bonus! Would it not? But they are primarily concerned with restoring hearing function, not to suppress tinnitus.

Of course we have to start somewhere! We can start with the cochlea with its sensory and nerve cells, and if we get to the point where we can finally do this - which I hope Frequency and others will help with - we might finally start getting some interesting results, and an answer to this hypothetical tinnitus cure.

Wouldn't you hate it if you were able to restore perfect hearing, but you were still stuck with tinnitus?

All I want to say is that we can't close this one off as if we have found the holy grail for tinnitus cure. We don't know that yet. Inner ear regeneration is very much welcome. But we are just gonna have to wait this out and see how these regenerative therapies play out when tinnitus is concerned. If it works for a majority of tinnitus patients, then great! But if it barely works at all in tinnitus patients, then we will have to take a different approach.

We have to keep an open mind about it. If tinnitus cure is primarily what we want, then we might consider following other leads, not just restoring the inner ear. Remember that restoring the inner ear by neogeneration of sensory and nerve cells is primarily aimed at restoring hearing function. There are people who have normal or nearly normal hearing and still have tinnitus. We might be inclined to blame this on the so called hidden hearing loss, i.e. cochlear synaptopathy. But we don't know that for sure, do we?

Just keep an open mind and stay hopeful. I like @Rasmus approach to this.

You seem to know much about the reascerch scene in this so could I ask you how optimistic are you about a cure if I can call it that for hearing and maybe tinnitus. I got tinnitus in March and didn't think I had a hearing loss as time goes I have been suspecting that I may have it after all. So how long away if ever do you think a cure or something that will help is?

 

[Samir]

You seem to know much about the reascerch scene in this so could I ask you how optimistic are you about a cure if I can call it that for hearing and maybe tinnitus. I got tinnitus in March and didn't think I had a hearing loss as time goes I have been suspecting that I may have it after all. So how long away if ever do you think a cure or something that will help is?

I am very optimistic about hearing restoration using biological means, be it molecular, stem cell or gene therapy. I am moderately optimistic that this will cure tinnitus, if the restoration is successful.

About 95% of people with tinnitus also have hearing loss. This is very strong evidence that these two are closely related. The 5% might as well have "hidden hearing loss". In other words, hearing loss that is not detected on a standard hearing test.

My most optimistic guess for inner ear restoration therapy is 2023. I think that restoring the sensory input to the brain will help the brain un-wire, and over time, the tinnitus will either be significantly reduced or completely gone. If this does not prove effective for tinnitus, then our best hope will be with neuroscience, treating the brain rather than the ears. Some kind of brain treatment might become available by 2030.