Patients with tinnitus no longer know silence. It hums, buzzes, whistles and hisses in the ear without being able to locate the source of the noise. What exactly causes the annoying noise sensitivity is still not clear today. Certain behavioral techniques can help those affected get used to the ringing in the ears. However, there is no effective therapy against hearing impairment. Now new studies are giving patients hope: two innovative methods are said to be able to alleviate patients' symptoms.
Heal tinnitus: Relieve the symptoms with brain training
The causes of hearing loss are still not fully understood. The scientists suspect that most of those affected were exposed to loud noise, which caused the hair cells in the inner ear to die. The connections between the brain and hearing were also damaged. Since no or significantly fewer electrical impulses could be transmitted to the brain, its nerve cells became overactive. As a result, the patient perceives buzzing noises in the ears that do not exist, but rather as a resultOverloading of brain cellsarise. Even deaf people can hear the annoying noises.
A new method that is currently being tested by the University Hospital in Zurich could offer a way out. Neurofeedback is the name given to a therapy that was developed to relieve the headaches of migraines. A computer game reprograms the nerve cells, while numerous sensors give researchers information about how the patient's brain responds to the stimuli.
Could a protein cause the disease?
The theory of dying hair cells is gaining more and more supporters, but it cannot explain why some patients have not been exposed to strong noise and still suffer from the chronic condition. A team of researchers at the University of Arizona could provide the answer to this question. The scientists assume that a protein triggers the disease. They measured the level of TNF protein in laboratory mice and compared it with that of healthy mice. The values in laboratory mice were significantly higher than in healthy laboratory mice. The researchers were able to block the protein with drugs and the results were not long in coming. After a few weeks, the laboratory mice were completely cured.
To the study ofResearch teams from Arizona
