With all the of medical and technological advancements available for auditory health, it is still a fact that most forms of hearing loss are irreversible. As 48 million people in the United States continue to seek different forms of treatment for their hearing impairment, recent studies have indicated that a new form of prescription drug could help preserve hearing.
Researchers from the University of Florida have examined a new way to test anti-hearing-loss drugs in people with auditory impairment that could be made available on the market sooner than previous expectations. While there have been a number of prototype drugs that have been tested on laboratory animals with hearing loss, scientists have always found trouble trying to test the medication in humans due to a lack of effective methods being proposed for testing.
The researchers discovered that by using controlled music level volumes to induce temporary hearing loss in human test subjects, the drugs can be tested for their effects while also meeting national safety standards for research in humans. The temporary hearing loss is brought on through patients playing music in headphones for periods up to four hours, while sounds through the headphones are played at decibels of around 93 dB, which is a little above the level that can produce auditory damage. After the music is stopped, the subjects who listened to the music at the highest volumes experience temporary hearing loss, that is normally restored within a few hours while leaving enough time for the researchers to test the supplements that can potentially preserve hearing impairment.
Dr. Colleen Le Prell, a professor at the University of Florida College of Public Health and lead author of the study, is optimistic that her team’s discovery will revolutionize the ways of treatment involved with hearing loss.
“There’s a real need for drug solutions to hearing loss,” Le Prell said in a statement. “Right now the only options for protecting against noise-induced hearing loss are to turn down what you’re listening to, walk away from it or wear ear plugs, and those options may not be practical for everyone, particularly for those in the military who need to be able to hear threats.”
The remedy
Le Prell and her team are testing dietary supplements called Soundbites, which contain high amounts of vitamins A, C and E, as well as the mineral magnesium. This combination of healthy antioxidants has already proved effective when preventing noise-induced hearing loss in laboratory animals, and is currently in the process of receiving the go-ahead for future testing on humans.
Current testing is also taking place for a drug titled SPI-1005, which possess a new molecule called ebselen that works as an imitation of a protective inner ear protein. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will work alongside the researchers to monitor the studies, making sure to ensure the safety of participants is the highest priority of the studies.
As hearing loss becomes more of a health issue for Americans, the possibilities of a prescription drug geared toward improving auditory conditions could be a breakthrough for audiologists and hearing health care professionals all over the world.
