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Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2013-08-04 22:11
Some scientists managed to grow new hair cells in a mammalian ear this year. :whistle:
Source
Hearing loss is a significant public health problem affecting close to 50 million people in the United States alone. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common form and is caused by the loss of sensory hair cells in the cochlea. Hair cell loss results from a variety of factors including noise exposure, aging, toxins, infections, and certain antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. Although hearing aids and cochlear implants can ameliorate the symptoms somewhat, there are no known treatments to restore hearing, because auditory hair cells in mammals, unlike those in birds or fish, do not regenerate once lost. Auditory hair cell replacement holds great promise as a treatment that could restore hearing after loss of hair cells.
In the Jan. 10 issue of Neuron, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School researchers demonstrate for the first time that hair cells can be regenerated in an adult mammalian ear by using a drug to stimulate resident cells to become new hair cells, resulting in partial recovery of hearing in mouse ears damaged by noise trauma. This finding holds great potential for future therapeutic application that may someday reverse deafness in humans.
"Hair cells are the primary receptor cells for sound and are responsible for the sense of hearing," explains senior author, Dr. Albert Edge, of Harvard Medical School and Mass. Eye and Ear. "We show that hair cells can be generated in a damaged cochlea and that hair cell replacement leads to an improvement in hearing."
In the experiment, the researchers applied a drug to the cochlea of deaf mice. The drug had been selected for its ability to generate hair cells when added to stem cells isolated from the ear. It acted by inhibiting an enzyme called gamma-secretase that activates a number of cellular pathways. The drug applied to the cochlea inhibited a signal generated by a protein called Notch on the surface of cells that surround hair cells. These supporting cells turned into new hair cells upon treatment with the drug. Replacing hair cells improved hearing in the mice, and the improved hearing could be traced to the areas in which supporting cells had become new hair cells. "The missing hair cells had been replaced by new hair cells after the drug treatment, and analysis of their location allowed us to correlate the improvement in hearing to the areas where the hair cells were replaced," Dr. Edge said.
This is the first demonstration of hair cell regeneration in an adult mammal. "We're excited about these results because they are a step forward in the biology of regeneration and prove that mammalian hair cells have the capacity to regenerate," Dr. Edge said. "With more research, we think that regeneration of hair cells opens the door to potential therapeutic applications in deafness."
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Zeo wrote on 2013-08-06 09:50
So... seeing that I myself am deaf in real life...
I don't really see that as a good news since it might will destroy a deaf culture and deaf community in the future.
I can understand a cure for older people that lose hearing as they age, but being deaf is not really a "health problem" as many hearing people out there are making it seem to be. It's pretty disgusting and I don't know if I should be offended at such a 'discovery'.
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ikamiru wrote on 2013-08-06 10:01
Quote from Zeo;1132212:
So... seeing that I myself am deaf in real life...
I don't really see that as a good news since it might will destroy a deaf culture and deaf community in the future.
I can understand a cure for older people that lose hearing as they age, but being deaf is not really a "health problem" as many hearing people out there are making it seem to be. It's pretty disgusting and I don't know if I should be offended at such a 'discovery'.
Don't wanna be mean but aren't you being the same now?
Saying the deaf community doesn't want to hear is pretty blunt.
I bet there are a lot of deaf people who would love to finally be able to hear.
I mean for example I love voice-chatting and I can't do this when I'm deaf.
There are so much more things you can finally discover.
The amazing thing called Music you have no idea what you are missing man.
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Zeo wrote on 2013-08-06 10:15
Quote from ikamiru;1132214:
Don't wanna be mean but aren't you being the same now?
Saying the deaf community doesn't want to hear is pretty blunt.
I bet there are a lot of deaf people who would love to finally be able to hear.
I mean for example I love voice-chatting and I can't do this when I'm deaf.
There are so much more things you can finally discover.
The amazing thing called Music you have no idea what you are missing man.
There's some deaf people who want to hear, I'm fine with that.
What pisses me off is that most deaf people are being pressured into getting a hearing aid or cochlear even if they said 'no'.
Not sure if you realize this but deaf people can feel the 'vibration' of music or any other sounds which is almost like hearing. Deaf people also can use voice normally and read lips well.
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Snowie Stormflower wrote on 2013-08-06 10:23
Add to that, making deaf people able to hear after all these years, they won't understand anything around them.
Things that are being said, sounds on the streets, music on the radio...
Some might not even want to hear because they're afraid of what awaits them.
(Assuming that natural deafness often comes with the inability to speak, as well)
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Aubog007 wrote on 2013-08-06 10:23
I have a hard time understanding accents or muffled speech from deaf people, and deaf people have a hard time reading my lips due to how i talk, i think deaf people would love to be able to fully listen and understand other people without getting frustrated, but then again, that's probably just me. And yes, some work places need really good hearing, it's extremely unnerving doing my job when there's a deaf person who cant hear me.
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Zeo wrote on 2013-08-06 10:35
Quote from Snowie Stormflower;1132219:
Add to that, making deaf people able to hear after all these years, they won't understand anything around them.
Things that are being said, sounds on the streets, music on the radio...
Some might not even want to hear because they're afraid of what awaits them.
(Assuming that natural deafness often comes with the inability to speak, as well)
It is considered rude to think deaf people cannot speak, if I read your post right.
But yes, after all those years of silent, some deaf people will have difficult time getting used to the sound. Even forcing the 'hearing' onto very young people such as babies who is deaf, won't always work.
I was born deaf but I can talk just fine with almost no difference compared to a hearing person.
While it may be frustrating to communicate with deaf people for most of you guys. There's many ways to communicate, like the old-style paper and pen, to texting messages.
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Aubog007 wrote on 2013-08-06 10:39
Quote from Zeo;1132223:
It is considered rude to think deaf people cannot speak.
I was born deaf but I can talk just fine with almost no difference compared to a hearing person.
While it may be frustrating to communicate with deaf people for most of you guys. There's many ways to communicate, like the old-style paper and pen, to texting messages.
I am giving my experience. Some can speak fine, i just cant understand the inherit slurring that is prevalent from pure deaf speakers, unless i meet a deaf person with perfect or near perfect speech, i shall go with my experiences with the deaf coworkers <---- plural.
Plus since i clean facilities, it is extremely unnerving knocking on a multi stall restroom, hearing no response, shouting your presence, no response, and noticing while you are cleaning, that there is a deaf person inside.
I am talking about total deafness, not partial deafness.
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Snowie Stormflower wrote on 2013-08-06 10:39
Quote from Zeo;1132223:
It is considered rude to think deaf people cannot speak.
I was born deaf but I can talk just fine with almost no difference compared to a hearing person.
While it may be frustrating to communicate with deaf people for most of you guys. There's many ways to communicate, like the old-style paper and pen, to texting messages.
Well sorry, I was only going by what I what I've read and been told.
I've also never met a deaf person in life, only blind people.
I feel pretty bad for both, even though I have no clue how they feel about their....handicap.
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Zeo wrote on 2013-08-06 10:42
I editted my previous post a bit.
But it's not your fault to think of things because you had no experience with deaf people.
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Aubog007 wrote on 2013-08-06 10:44
I had a post but i realized the response wasnt for me.
Well then, guess i am a bit tired, my apologies.
Deaf people really freak me out sometimes because the ones i work with mistake sounds.
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ikamiru wrote on 2013-08-06 10:54
I would hate living without music but thats me.
I guess it is nice that you can ignore people going mad at you with the excuse; sorry I'm deaf I didn't hear you.
Hahahaha.
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Snowie Stormflower wrote on 2013-08-06 11:04
Quote from ikamiru;1132232:
I would hate living without music but thats me.
I guess it is nice that you can ignore people going mad at you with the excuse; sorry I'm deaf I didn't hear you.
Hahahaha.
I don't think that's funny, I doubt they'd even make fun of their own short-comings.
Quote from Zeo;1132223:
While it may be frustrating to communicate with deaf people for most of you guys. There's many ways to communicate, like the old-style paper and pen, to texting messages.
Sounds like something I could get accustomed to. I've pretended to be an aphoniac for quite a few years myself anyway.
But the thought of actually being deaf will always scare me.
My dad's hearing is going backwards rapidly, and he will probably be (close to) deaf soon, so I guess I shold start doing some resaerch eventually.
What I'm thinking of right now is:
How is it like in the mind of a deaf person, how do they think? Because they obviously wouldn't be doing it with voices in their head the same way as I do.
Do they see images? Signs? Stuff like that's all a bit vague.
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ikamiru wrote on 2013-08-06 11:32
I think it is easier to life with being deaf all your life then to become deaf due to some illness.
I think people who have been deaf all their life have no knowledge of what it is to hear thus they don't long for it.
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Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2013-08-06 17:14
There's
nothing at all to be offended about. Deafness
is a medical condition and if you can live with that and embrace it, fine, but people who are deaf simply because they got their ears mashed by some trauma where before they could hear are probably not fine with it, and those are the ones "get rid of it" refers to. It's only not a medical condition for you because you live in an advanced society where the only real physical danger is rumbling cars hitting you, as opposed to wildcats, snakes, bears, wolves, etc. "sneaking" up on you, and because you never experienced what hearing
really means. In other words, it's circumstantially a non-medical condition. I can also tell you -no hard feelings- that feeling the vibrations of the few frequencies where you do is not remotely comparable to properly hearing music. If it was, aging audio lovers wouldn't get distraught over losing hearing beyond 14khz, and you could cry with joy feeling the vibrations.
Though of course in retrospect it's very unlikely they'll get rid of deafness at all, since the neurosystem plays into that too. For consideration, I found this link in a thread by
a guy who suffers from a neurological problem. But one breaking point may be fully repairable soon.