Stem cell studies stuns researchers, stem cells injected into the brain helped stroke patients, walk and talk again. Could this therapy apply to tinnitus suffers?
Stem cell is the future of science but I have a question. Is this treatment will be efficient for T sufferers like me who have no hearing loss? As you know T can also be a disorder which caused from CNS. What do you guys think about it?
Most likely, if stem cells were to be used to correct any damage to the auditory system of the brain plus the regions they interconnect, they would have to be placed in the area that the damage first took place. That would be the auditory nerve, since the spiral ganglion neurons that make us these nerve fibers connect to the inner most regions of the brain (limbic system).Stem cell is the future of science but I have a question. Is this treatment will be efficient for T sufferers like me who have no hearing loss? As you know T can also be a disorder which caused from CNS. What do you guys think about it?
Yes, stem cell treatment is effective for non hearing loss CNS tinnitus if the stem cells can be distributed there without complications. You see, it's hard to reach the auditory centers with a needle. I gather that they only introduced them into the brain barrier which is not so hard.
The glial scars have been found to be very important when trying to regenerate damage in the central nervous system. Results have come from tests but the question is how long will it be until we can perform such treatments on humans and how much more work needs to be done to improve these tests to get the job done right?Then maybe we need to search a way to reach auditory nerves with needles? Maybe a brain surgery will be efficient for it?
I do not personally believe that they are improving stem cell therapy for tinnitus since they do not consider it as important as other diseases. That is, of course, disappointing.
C'mon. They can make people who had stroke walk and talk again and they cannot erase a phantom noise in the brain? Sounds unrealistic for a person like me who has not much knowledge in science.
The glial scars have been found to be very important when trying to regenerate damage in the central nervous system. Results have come from tests but the question is how long will it be until we can perform such treatments on humans and how much more work needs to be done to improve these tests to get the job done right?
I believe the answer for effective delivery of stem cells will involve nanomachines. Research is currently being done at the Otomagnetics, (a spin-off corporation from the University of Maryland) in using magnets to deliver drugs to the inner ear: http://www.controlofmems.umd.edu/pu...ct-IntoInnerEar-AtHuman-Distances-Jan2013.pdf.
Personally, I think that delivery of stem cells into the inner ear first would be a good start. Once induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are controllable, in that they do not grow too much and become tumors, they could be packaged within nanoparticles for delivery into the inner ear using magnets.