Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) 2018 Conference

[noitseuq]

What are their thought's about finding a cure, can we expect one anytime soon? How far can they be to have an actual cure for all those like me are suffering badly.

 

[threefirefour]

TRI Regensburg 2018 Conference Report

Day 1

I forget that my tinnitus can play up a little after long journeys. It's not so bad after a night's rest but still a bit louder than normal (whatever normal means, it's hardly normal having tinnitus), what with the airplane dehydration and travel noise. I can't really complain at 8 hours from my front door to a hotel front door in Bavaria, you have to think of our not too distant ancestors where a journey like this would be in the degree of weeks at best.

View attachment 15632

The setting of Regensburg is beautiful, such an amazing place to walk around and I got to walk through the park to the conference, the birdsong was most welcome to my tinnitus.

Introductions

Introductions came from the University and from Berthold and Winny of the TRI. Tinnitus Talk were even mentioned in the introduction by Winny! There was also a nice introduction from a representative of COST. Without the COST action we would not be at the conference, they pay the travel expenses that allow us and many of the other EU representatives to attend events like this. The COST action TINNET is a big part of bringing patient opinion and experience to the forefront of tinnitus research.

The first of these meetings was 12 years ago. At that time they say there closer to 30 people, today there are 300 attending. They thanked Matteo De Nora for beginning the whole process with his financial support. Without his substantial contributions tinnitus research would not be where it is today.

Morning Session

I can't go into too much detail on all of the talks right now, so I'll give general impressions of the day. This is purely for time and stomach related reasons, I'm typing before I go for dinner and I have to practise my talk ready for tomorrow.

The first keynote from Tobias Kleinjung had the slightly controversial title "Can Cochlear Implants be a Cure for Tinnitus?". The short answer is not really, unless you have a profound hearing loss, and then temporarily. The primary complaint for a CI is hearing loss, generally over 70dB. Tinnitus is the secondary.

One interesting thing I took from this was that when you stimulate one side only with a CI, in single sided deafness, the "good" hearing ear can also experience a reduction of tinnitus. Suppression is only when using the CI, but it can sometimes last for a time after it is turned off, a kind of residual inhibition.

They aren't certain what the reason is behind this. It certainly wouldn't be a recommended route for those with normal hearing, but if the mechanism is identified it could give data that would really interest me and could inform future treatments not based on CI.

I sat in on the neuromodulation session next. A lot of very interesting presentations on modulating the brain. Richard Tyler presented on findings from MicroTransponder's Serenity System, the implanted Vagus Nerve Stimulation device. I asked later about the sound stimulation they used, interestingly across the audio spectrum, rather than centred only around the tinnitus frequency. Although they have around an octave centred on the tinnitus pitch (as matched by a test) that has no sound played.

There were several sessions on rTMS. I couldn't do them justice without first understanding more about it as I'm not 100% familiar with the intricacies. It was very interesting to see that they have come from a position that it may not be viable, to one that it needs to be designed specifically around the patient. Future projects will look at the comparison between rTMS and direct electrical stimulation.

The final session was on neurofeedback. Based on the findings that people with tinnitus have reduced alpha activity in the brain and an increase of Delta, they tried to influence the Alpha and Delta to separate.

They use visual feedback for their tests; a UFO travelling along a tunnel, alpha brainwaves control the speed and Delta controls direction. The aim is to balance things for a smooth ride. There was no placebo group for the data presented, however they did find that an increase in Alpha activity in those with tinnitus corresponded to a decreased loudness of tinnitus and decrease of tinnitus distress. When they followed up at 3 months the loudness had returned to baseline.

It's a passive process, rather than training a person to focus on Alpha or Delta waves. They found that when the patient tried to focus on a particular brainwave pattern they struggled to control the UFO.

Lunch

At lunch I got talking to a couple of Doctors from Ireland. They don't practice or research tinnitus, but they both have it and have a family history; they attend for the understanding of the current state of research. Really interesting to talk to them, patient to patient, about their impressions.

Straight after lunch we went into the poster sessions. Lots of excellent posters, including the ESIT students. The data from our 2015 survey features in the poster and work of Jorge Simões. Excellent to see his development of it, looking at the treatment successes and relationships between them.

View attachment 15633

In the centre of the room there was also a really cool iPad demonstration of our treatment data. An excellent student (apologies I forget the name) has created an interactive graphic showing all of the treatments we asked about. You can look at the relationships in several ways, but in essence you place your finger on a treatment name and it displays the connections to other treatments that helped or didn't. I'm not describing too well, I got a brief video but tomorrow I will do a demo and post the video for you to see.

I also got chatting to a couple of people interested in the next survey project we have for trying to profile tinnitus, then test how certain treatments work to see if we can predict success by understanding the case history. I hope we will get to work with them on the project, they want to do the same thing as I do so I think it may happen.

Afternoon

The afternoon keynote came from Hubert Lim. He presented work in animals and non-invasive neuromodulation. The talk was around sound + body stimulation to treat tinnitus. He showed a series of brain scans from stimulation of the body, activating the inferior colliculus. The question was can you control plasticity effects in the auditory system with sound + body stimulation? The evidence certainly appears to support the theory.

It was interesting to note that they gave stimulation to Guinea Pigs via the pinna. They would have used the tongue, but it was too hard because of trying to keep the stimulation device on the animals. Made me think, this seems a positive note for the approach that the Mute Button device has taken.

I really wanted to go to the cortical networks session, but in the brochure they had a summary of each talk and I knew it was going to be too technical for me to grasp. It's an area I want to understand more about but I'm not quite at neuroscientist level yet...

The tinnitus CBT session was good. I know that there are people that aren't a fan of CBT in general, but you just can't deny that it is well researched and has a good success rate. It isn't for everyone of course. The evidence presented adds to that knowledge. CBT from a recent Dutch study is now available as a treatment for tinnitus on the Dutch health care system.

One of the talks in the session revolved around CBTi (CBT for insomnia). Looking at a stat of 50-70% of people with tinnitus reporting sleep disturbance it's definitely something that can help a lot of people. Their initial work has shown good results, they have a Randomised Controlled Trial completing next year.

In the coffee break I chatted to someone who has been data mining from the forum. Unfortunately his talk is in the opposite session to mine tomorrow, so I'm going to try and get a copy of the slides and put the information up on TT.

I went to the session for the COMIT'ID project after. We are currently helping out the discussions by hosting a private forum for participants to debate and agree certain aspects of the outcome domains. We split into groups and debated one of the definitions. It was a very useful session and one that gave me a few new perspectives. It also got quite a few people interested in taking part in the online discussions around the definitions.

Shamefully I didn't realise that there was still a final keynote, so I headed off. I was looking forward to it too. So, if Fatima Husain reads this – I'm sorry. I will try and catch up and get some info from her at some point if I can.

End of Day 1

I haven't been able to type up everything (even though I've typed a lot) but the general impression is very good. I've met a lot of people and have seen the data we've collected here through Tinnitus Talk cropping in in several areas. To know that the work we have done is contributing to research is exciting. The information provided by all of the people that have taken part in our surveys is being put to very good use. There will be more, and we will make sure that the patient voice and patient data are getting out there.

Okay, so this took longer than I thought. I ended up with a fast takeaway and pushed through writing while it was still fresh in my mind.

This is so informative! Thanks for writing your experience.

 

[Steve]

@Starthrower I can ask what they have available for people to look at right now on CBTi, the study was presented by Elizabeth Marks, from the University of Bath.

What are their thought's about finding a cure, can we expect one anytime soon? How far can they be to have an actual cure for all those like me are suffering badly.

We're putting out a post-conference survey, this question is definitely going in.

 

[Danny Boy]

View attachment 12476
​

Disruptive Innovations in Tinnitus​

Back in 2016 we had a presence at the TRI conference in Nottingham, UK.
Read our conference report.

In 2017 there won't be a TRI conference, but the one in 2018 has now been announced - and we'll be attending and reporting.

"We are witnessing a time period in tinnitus research with rapid developments of basic research, new clinical strategies for tinnitus treatment and enormous growth in technical innovations. Both public funding and industrial investments for tinnitus research have largely increased during the last few years. This development is also accompanied by raising awareness for tinnitus in society and increased attention of public and social media.

The conference entitled "Disruptive Innovations in Tinnitus" will give you a great opportunity to learn about the details of major breakthroughs in tinnitus. It will be a platform for knowledge-sharing, high-level scientific exchange, and inter-disciplinary networking for scientists, clinicians and technicians."​

Time:
14-16 March 2018

Location:
Regensburg, Germany

Website:
http://2018.tri-conf.org/

If the Prime Minister or Boris Johnson had tinnitus, heck even Jeremy Corbyn you can bet your ass they'd be a substantial funding towards a cure.....

 

[Danny Boy]

@Starthrower I can ask what they have available for people to look at right now on CBTi, the study was presented by Elizabeth Marks, from the University of Bath.


We're putting out a post-conference survey, this question is definitely going in.

Really? Because most GPs in Bath have no clue how to deal or are not educated in tinnitus, maybe she should get them all together and do a lecture.

 

[Danny Boy]

TRI Regensburg 2018 Conference Report

Day 1

I forget that my tinnitus can play up a little after long journeys. It's not so bad after a night's rest but still a bit louder than normal (whatever normal means, it's hardly normal having tinnitus), what with the airplane dehydration and travel noise. I can't really complain at 8 hours from my front door to a hotel front door in Bavaria, you have to think of our not too distant ancestors where a journey like this would be in the degree of weeks at best.

View attachment 15632

The setting of Regensburg is beautiful, such an amazing place to walk around and I got to walk through the park to the conference, the birdsong was most welcome to my tinnitus.

Introductions

Introductions came from the University and from Berthold and Winny of the TRI. Tinnitus Talk were even mentioned in the introduction by Winny! There was also a nice introduction from a representative of COST. Without the COST action we would not be at the conference, they pay the travel expenses that allow us and many of the other EU representatives to attend events like this. The COST action TINNET is a big part of bringing patient opinion and experience to the forefront of tinnitus research.

The first of these meetings was 12 years ago. At that time they say there closer to 30 people, today there are 300 attending. They thanked Matteo De Nora for beginning the whole process with his financial support. Without his substantial contributions tinnitus research would not be where it is today.

Morning Session

I can't go into too much detail on all of the talks right now, so I'll give general impressions of the day. This is purely for time and stomach related reasons, I'm typing before I go for dinner and I have to practise my talk ready for tomorrow.

The first keynote from Tobias Kleinjung had the slightly controversial title "Can Cochlear Implants be a Cure for Tinnitus?". The short answer is not really, unless you have a profound hearing loss, and then temporarily. The primary complaint for a CI is hearing loss, generally over 70dB. Tinnitus is the secondary.

One interesting thing I took from this was that when you stimulate one side only with a CI, in single sided deafness, the "good" hearing ear can also experience a reduction of tinnitus. Suppression is only when using the CI, but it can sometimes last for a time after it is turned off, a kind of residual inhibition.

They aren't certain what the reason is behind this. It certainly wouldn't be a recommended route for those with normal hearing, but if the mechanism is identified it could give data that would really interest me and could inform future treatments not based on CI.

I sat in on the neuromodulation session next. A lot of very interesting presentations on modulating the brain. Richard Tyler presented on findings from MicroTransponder's Serenity System, the implanted Vagus Nerve Stimulation device. I asked later about the sound stimulation they used, interestingly across the audio spectrum, rather than centred only around the tinnitus frequency. Although they have around an octave centred on the tinnitus pitch (as matched by a test) that has no sound played.

There were several sessions on rTMS. I couldn't do them justice without first understanding more about it as I'm not 100% familiar with the intricacies. It was very interesting to see that they have come from a position that it may not be viable, to one that it needs to be designed specifically around the patient. Future projects will look at the comparison between rTMS and direct electrical stimulation.

The final session was on neurofeedback. Based on the findings that people with tinnitus have reduced alpha activity in the brain and an increase of Delta, they tried to influence the Alpha and Delta to separate.

They use visual feedback for their tests; a UFO travelling along a tunnel, alpha brainwaves control the speed and Delta controls direction. The aim is to balance things for a smooth ride. There was no placebo group for the data presented, however they did find that an increase in Alpha activity in those with tinnitus corresponded to a decreased loudness of tinnitus and decrease of tinnitus distress. When they followed up at 3 months the loudness had returned to baseline.

It's a passive process, rather than training a person to focus on Alpha or Delta waves. They found that when the patient tried to focus on a particular brainwave pattern they struggled to control the UFO.

Lunch

At lunch I got talking to a couple of Doctors from Ireland. They don't practice or research tinnitus, but they both have it and have a family history; they attend for the understanding of the current state of research. Really interesting to talk to them, patient to patient, about their impressions.

Straight after lunch we went into the poster sessions. Lots of excellent posters, including the ESIT students. The data from our 2015 survey features in the poster and work of Jorge Simões. Excellent to see his development of it, looking at the treatment successes and relationships between them.

View attachment 15633

In the centre of the room there was also a really cool iPad demonstration of our treatment data. An excellent student (apologies I forget the name) has created an interactive graphic showing all of the treatments we asked about. You can look at the relationships in several ways, but in essence you place your finger on a treatment name and it displays the connections to other treatments that helped or didn't. I'm not describing too well, I got a brief video but tomorrow I will do a demo and post the video for you to see.

I also got chatting to a couple of people interested in the next survey project we have for trying to profile tinnitus, then test how certain treatments work to see if we can predict success by understanding the case history. I hope we will get to work with them on the project, they want to do the same thing as I do so I think it may happen.

Afternoon

The afternoon keynote came from Hubert Lim. He presented work in animals and non-invasive neuromodulation. The talk was around sound + body stimulation to treat tinnitus. He showed a series of brain scans from stimulation of the body, activating the inferior colliculus. The question was can you control plasticity effects in the auditory system with sound + body stimulation? The evidence certainly appears to support the theory.

It was interesting to note that they gave stimulation to Guinea Pigs via the pinna. They would have used the tongue, but it was too hard because of trying to keep the stimulation device on the animals. Made me think, this seems a positive note for the approach that the Mute Button device has taken.

I really wanted to go to the cortical networks session, but in the brochure they had a summary of each talk and I knew it was going to be too technical for me to grasp. It's an area I want to understand more about but I'm not quite at neuroscientist level yet...

The tinnitus CBT session was good. I know that there are people that aren't a fan of CBT in general, but you just can't deny that it is well researched and has a good success rate. It isn't for everyone of course. The evidence presented adds to that knowledge. CBT from a recent Dutch study is now available as a treatment for tinnitus on the Dutch health care system.

One of the talks in the session revolved around CBTi (CBT for insomnia). Looking at a stat of 50-70% of people with tinnitus reporting sleep disturbance it's definitely something that can help a lot of people. Their initial work has shown good results, they have a Randomised Controlled Trial completing next year.

In the coffee break I chatted to someone who has been data mining from the forum. Unfortunately his talk is in the opposite session to mine tomorrow, so I'm going to try and get a copy of the slides and put the information up on TT.

I went to the session for the COMIT'ID project after. We are currently helping out the discussions by hosting a private forum for participants to debate and agree certain aspects of the outcome domains. We split into groups and debated one of the definitions. It was a very useful session and one that gave me a few new perspectives. It also got quite a few people interested in taking part in the online discussions around the definitions.

Shamefully I didn't realise that there was still a final keynote, so I headed off. I was looking forward to it too. So, if Fatima Husain reads this – I'm sorry. I will try and catch up and get some info from her at some point if I can.

End of Day 1

I haven't been able to type up everything (even though I've typed a lot) but the general impression is very good. I've met a lot of people and have seen the data we've collected here through Tinnitus Talk cropping in in several areas. To know that the work we have done is contributing to research is exciting. The information provided by all of the people that have taken part in our surveys is being put to very good use. There will be more, and we will make sure that the patient voice and patient data are getting out there.

Okay, so this took longer than I thought. I ended up with a fast takeaway and pushed through writing while it was still fresh in my mind.

Cheers Steve for doing all this legwork for us, truly a legend. Admire all the work you do for us <3

 

[Steve]

Quick note to say I won't be able to write an update until tomorrow probably. There's a conference dinner tonight so I'm getting ready for that.

Lots of talking to people today, getting the message out there about what we want to do, how we think we can help research. I'm meeting with some people tomorrow to look at translating some of the survey work into Dutch, so we can gather data from not only English speakers.

There was also a researcher interested in the data from the significant other survey we recently ran. I've sent that over and hopefully we will get a pro analysis on that sometime in the future.

Also people interested in the data sets from our other 2 large surveys, so it's all good so far

 

[Makrohn]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, and thank you for all the work you do!

 

[glynis]

Thank you for the update and hope your talk went well .
Have a lovely evening.
Love glynis

 

[Starthrower]

Quick note to say I won't be able to write an update until tomorrow probably. There's a conference dinner tonight so I'm getting ready for that.

Hi Steve,

I always check this thread first!! Write your blog when you have the time.

 

[Steve]

No pressure in the panel talk today, Rich Tyler and Pawel Jastreboff in the front row.... The room was a bit more filled than I was expecting. All went good though. I talked about patient frustration on how long trials and research take to surface, the need for more data collection from patients and ideas on innovating future conferences.

Hi Steve,
I always check this thread first!! Write your blog when you have the time.

I'm going to try and get it done as soon as I can. Just in the airport now, Munich airport do a really good Thai.

 

[threefirefour]

Pawel Jastreboff in the front row....

You think you could fire a friendly spitball for me?

 

[Steve]

Ps. I never take food pictures and post them. I feel it's important to point that out

I should also add. Highlight of the day for me was Will Sedley's keynote.

He really lived up to the title of disruptive innovation. The presentation was on his own framework, based on looking at many discoveries in tinnitus research. It was excellent to see him roll through a lot of topics and show studies that contradicted each other. Highlighting that when you think you have something pinned down in tinnitus it can prove elusive.

I really like the way he looks at the problem. Anyway, more on that when I type up the information.

 

[Steve]

Oh, and also, without spamming messages into this thread..

The prize for:

• the poster most likely to influence current practice

Went to Jorge Simoes. His poster was an analysis of the data from our first large survey.

How cool is that?

The analysis of data provided by the people of this forum and the wider tinnitus community was judged likely to have the most influence on current practice.

This isn't a small thing. There were 3 poster sessions, with a reasonably full selection in each. Jorge was above many, many others, and there were some really innovative things on display when I walked the room each day.

 

[Steve]

You think you could fire a friendly spitball for me?

It was interesting because he did make comment in the discussions and he acknowledged that TRT isn't for everybody. That was a general theme from everyone I talked to, they knew that even where they felt they had good results with their own particular therapy, that there were going to be those that do not benefit.

Getting on the plane now so no more posting until tomorrow.

 

[parsky]

Quick note to say I won't be able to write an update until tomorrow probably. There's a conference dinner tonight so I'm getting ready for that.

Lots of talking to people today, getting the message out there about what we want to do, how we think we can help research. I'm meeting with some people tomorrow to look at translating some of the survey work into Dutch, so we can gather data from not only English speakers.

There was also a researcher interested in the data from the significant other survey we recently ran. I've sent that over and hopefully we will get a pro analysis on that sometime in the future.

Also people interested in the data sets from our other 2 large surveys, so it's all good so far

I also think it would be worth gathering data for members here about tinnitus frequency among other things. Everyone here has tinnitus, but rarely do they state the frequency(s), age at onset, age at disappearance.

Just make it part of the deal of being a member here.

It would be good for researchers to understand how tinnitus interacts with the processes of just age related hearing loss and develop better hypothesis' to be tested on why age related hearing loss doesn't always cause tinnitus.

Is it possible age related loss can reduce tinnitus? Especially for those with very high frequencies >8kHz for example. I think then we could understand better how the brain compensates for these loses.

 

[Starthrower]

Safe travels home Steve. I am amazed at the time and effort you and Markku put forward for tinnitus research, awareness and support.

 

[glynis]

It was interesting because he did make comment in the discussions and he acknowledged that TRT isn't for everybody. That was a general theme from everyone I talked to, they knew that even where they felt they had good results with their own particular therapy, that there were going to be those that do not benefit.

I think now CBT is taking over TRT and used more to cover the emotions, confidence, low mood and whìte noise generators and hearing aids where needed.
Looking forward to reading more of your TRI conference posts @Steve.
Love glynis

 

[Liam_Cairns]

I think now CBT is taking over TRT and used more to cover the emotions, confidence, low mood and whìte noise generators and hearing aids where needed.
Looking forward to reading more of your TRI conference posts @Steve.
Love glynis

But isn't CBT what was used during TRT anyway? Also CBT sadly has a high rate of relapse after the therapy is concluded. I study psych and several of my lecturers say that it's not great for chronic illness, it's much better for adjustment disorder, such as a breakup. ACT is pretty good, but even then has some serious limitations. Therapy and WNGs just aren't enough for a lot of people.

 

[noitseuq]

We need a cure. No patches.

 

[Steve]

But isn't CBT what was used during TRT anyway? Also CBT sadly has a high rate of relapse after the therapy is concluded. I study psych and several of my lecturers say that it's not great for chronic illness, it's much better for adjustment disorder, such as a breakup. ACT is pretty good, but even then has some serious limitations. Therapy and WNGs just aren't enough for a lot of people.

If you had a TRT and CBT therapist in front of you right after making that statement I can guarantee that an argument would erupt I know where you are coming from with the thoughts and I almost feel the same way sometimes, but they are different.

The thing that struck me again and again throughout the conference is that sometimes the intervention just isn't right for the person. It's funny to sit back as a non-professional and have the thought that everyone is really heading along the same path.

The primary aims seem to be to stop the brain from focusing on tinnitus. We have psych therapies, we have. audio therapies, we have pipeline drug therapies. Everything feels connected to me, it's almost like the field of physics, waiting for the Grand Unifying Theory. The majority of the work is focused in a similar direction, at least in my perception.

The problem is that people respond differently to different techniques. I believe that a combination of therapies could actually work for some people. You have to also tackle the root causes of the tinnitus so it has to be incredibly joined up, I don't think it's acceptable to say "you have tinnitus, now lets learn how to get used to it". We have to say "you have tinnitus, lets address the causes, ;learn how to approach it mentally, kill the stress response and interrupt the signal creation in the brain".

We as a community also need to learn that it's silly to say that therapy x is useless and pointless, but to appreciate that it is a step along the way and will work for some, it's just not right for us.

We need a cure. No patches.

I am kind of hating myself for what I'm about to say as I do not count myself as a supporter of TRT (and I don't want to incur the wrath of TT members, I'm looking at you @threefirefour ), but here goes.... Pawel Jastreboff said in discussions on Friday that the patient needs to let go of the cure in order to progress with treatment. He is sort of right.

However, this is my own interpretation:

You need to understand that there isn't a cure right now, then find the current treatments that work best for you and allow you to get on with your life again. It will be a patch of sorts unless you have a direct cause that once tackled will ameliorate tinnitus. You have tinnitus, you need to do the best that you can with the available tools.

You should never stop lobbying for a cure. You should add your support and your voice and make sure that those who are searching for a cure have our full backing as a community. A cure is the number one priority, but you shouldn't just dismiss everything else in the mean time.

I say the above as a person with loud and intrusive tinnitus, and one who is quite frankly useless at treating myself. I have reached a point of habituation by just bumbling along, zero special techniques or approaches apart from some of my own audio experiments when I get time.

 

[annV]

@Steve -
when can we read your reports from day 2 and day 3? Thank you and @Markku for everything you do for us.

 

[Steve]

@Steve -
when can we read your reports from day 2 and day 3? Thank you and @Markku for everything you do for us.

I feel privileged in having been able to go.

I have docs open now. You wouldn't think it but they take hours to write. It's probably because I want to check out each thing as I go and make sure that I don't misrepresent any part. When you're taking notes during a presentation it's sometimes easy to misunderstand.

 

[Tinniger]

Oh, and also, without spamming messages into this thread..
The prize for:
The poster most likely to influence current practice
Went to Jorge Simoes. His poster was an analysis of the data from our first large survey.
How cool is that?

Congratulations!
I am convinced that surveys can increase knowledge.

 

[glynis]

Hi @Steve,
Did you come back with any awareness projects / campaigns the advocate team might be of help with?

 

[Steve]

Hi @Steve,
Did you come back with any awareness projects / campaigns the advocate team might be of help with?

At the moment I have several things swimming around my brain. I need to write everything down and make sense of it

I did talk to a guy from Action on Hearing Loss for a while, I think that we can develop some closer working ties on projects with them as well as BTA. If we can pick out some key points in the year (like you did with the mental health awareness one) we can all work together to maximise the attention that tinnitus gets. We probably need to get together a calendar in the advocate team and plan out the year ahead.

 

[noitseuq]

Pawel Jastreboff said in discussions on Friday that the patient needs to let go of the cure in order to progress with treatment. He is sort of right.
.

What else to expect from him? He's the father of TRT, that's his business.

In the conference did anything came up as how far are we away from a cure? Are they expecting to keep on using psychiatrist developments for tinnitus, but what about reducing or eliminating the sounds?

You were there, how you see it? Like are we still in diapers?

Sure, I won't stop lobbying for a cure.

 

[Steve]

In the conference did anything came up as how far are we away from a cure? Are they expecting to keep on using psychiatrist developments for tinnitus, but what about reducing or eliminating the sounds?

You were there, how you see it? Like are we still in diapers?

We will ask this in a post conference survey so I'll post the results when we get that written and sent out.

From the people I talked to I would say there is a mixed response, depending on the field they work in. Of course the psychological ones are focused on the management of tinnitus. The others, or at least those I spoke to, I felt were very interested in innovations. They want to see reduction of tinnitus and they are experimenting with different things to try and do that.

In the panel discussion the figure of 10 years was brought up. I said that we didn't want to wait 10 years, we wanted things to be much faster. In reality though, it is all guesswork. We could have an ingenious development around the corner, or we could be waiting a lot longer.

One thing I can say is that the sheer degree of research happening at the moment is going to have an effect. We are pushing the boundaries further than they have ever been pushed and this is going to bear fruit.

 

[Starthrower]

We are pushing the boundaries further than they have ever been pushed and this is going to bear fruit.

And this is just the beginning of what you guys started a few years back!! I don't think people understand how much time and effort goes into creating something that isn't just a support board. Wow. I have such high hopes now. And it feels good to be back in the game.

Pretty soon I will be able to take more active steps here. I just needed to start back slow.

Jen

 

[Stev]

We will ask this in a post conference survey so I'll post the results when we get that written and sent out.

From the people I talked to I would say there is a mixed response, depending on the field they work in. Of course the psychological ones are focused on the management of tinnitus. The others, or at least those I spoke to, I felt were very interested in innovations. They want to see reduction of tinnitus and they are experimenting with different things to try and do that.

In the panel discussion the figure of 10 years was brought up. I said that we didn't want to wait 10 years, we wanted things to be much faster. In reality though, it is all guesswork. We could have an ingenious development around the corner, or we could be waiting a lot longer.

What about companies like Frequency Therapeutics and movements like the Hearing Restoration Project? Were there representatives from these groups at the conference or were they discussed at the conference at all? Frequency seems to be making pretty rapid progress in finding a way to literally restore hearing and get rid of tinnitus. And the Hearing Restoration Project gave a 10 year figure for a cure in 2014. What are your opinions on these?