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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Tinnitus / August 2004Tinnitus: the sound of silence - a new discovery!
http://seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=15728 Tinnitus: the sound of silence REPORTER: Dr John D'Arcy BROADCAST DATE: July 22, 2004 The device plays music to help ease tinnitus. Hundreds of thousands of Australians suffer a constant annoying sound in their ears called tinnitus. One doctor's new device may offer them hope. A humming, buzzing, whirring noise like a high-tension wire - even a roaring sound in the ears. That's the sound of silence for more than one million Australians who suffer from tinnitus. Tinnitus is an annoying sound in the ear that just doesn't go away. It's on the rise, even among teenagers, and a recent boom in digital music players is being blamed for hearing loss. For Roslyn Hannaford tinnitus has had a crippling effect on her life. "I woke up one morning and I actually had my hands over my ears," Ms Hannaford said. "And I was saying to my husband: 'that aircraft is very low, can you hear the sound of that plane?'." "And he said: 'I can't hear it'." Dr Paul Davis from Perth's Curtin University feels for his patients who suffer tinnitus. He too hears the annoying sounds, so for the past 15 years he's researched and developed a treatment and cure. "People find great difficulty getting off to sleep and to concentrate, to relax," Dr Davis said. "[They] usually have this reduced sound tolerance, worry about going outside - it really can impact on people's quality of life." Doctors used to think tinnitus was simply the result of a damaged ear. But new research has revealed the brain generates the noise. A new device called Neuromonics has been created to desensitise the brain to the annoying sound. You wear an earpiece and the device plays music which has been digitally modified to change the pitch and add background noises, retraining the brain and reducing the chaotic sounds. Roslyn was a prime candidate for the Neuromonics six-month clinical trial. She wore the device for two to three hours. It's now on sale but it's not cheap at about $5,000. "I feel now I'm more in control and its not really controlling me," Ms Hannaford said. For more information on Neuromonics call 1300 367 907. At the time of writing the treatment is only available in Sydney and Perth, but other states are predicted to follow early next year. There's also a Neuromonics website at www.neuromonics.com.au (or www.neuromonics.com) Disclaimer The information on seven.com.au/todaytonight is made available for information purposes only, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Also, the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information is not guaranteed. The Seven Network and Primus AOL do not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health professional. > http://seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=15728 > Tinnitus: the sound of silence Another attempt at selling a "tinnitus masker", this one at the modest price of 5000 oz dollars. No real information on the site memntioned, only salestalk and assertions. Kind regards Peter Larsen  Signature******************************************* * My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk * ******************************************* Peter Larsen <SPAMSHIELD_plarsen@mail.tele.dk> wrote in part: >> http://seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=15728 > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Peter Larsen There are published controlled studies available at the neuromonics website. The method doesn't use masking--it uses a technique of intermittent selective stimulation of auditory regions affected by hearing loss. SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG "Jim Chinnis" <jchinnis@SPAMalum.mit.edu> wrote in message >snip ...... it uses a technique of intermittent selective > stimulation of auditory regions affected by hearing loss. Interesting. Does it work when there is no hearing loss or notch at the spectral region of the tinnitus? PaulS This is what it said in part: Dr Paul Davis from Perth's Curtin University feels for his patients who suffer tinnitus. He too hears the annoying sounds, so for the past 15 years he's researched and developed a treatment and cure. Doctors used to think tinnitus was simply the result of a damaged ear. But new research has revealed the brain generates the noise. AT LEAST SOMETHING IS BEING DONE..... -- Glenn > "Jim Chinnis" <jchinnis@SPAMalum.mit.edu> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > PaulS "PaulS" <gatorz@bellsouth.net> wrote in part: >"Jim Chinnis" <jchinnis@SPAMalum.mit.edu> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Interesting. Does it work when there is no hearing loss or notch at the >spectral region of the tinnitus? Paul, I haven't read all the descriptions, so I can't really say. But I think that many feel that tinnitus is almost always due to hearing loss, no matter how subtle. I suspect all of us have measureable hearing loss above 8kHz, for instance. There is also a lot of evidence that even very short spectral shifts in threshold can be associated with tinnitus where the threshold changes. The core Neuromonics idea is actually a pretty old one, but they have put together the pieces into an approach that may work for many people, IMO. The general idea was to restore the stimulation of brainstem or cortical neurons that had lost it, thus preventing them from taking on abnormal firing patterns (tinnitus). One way of doing this is with something like a cochlear implant, where the defective hair cells (or other cochlear defects) are bypassed and the nerve fibers are directly stimulated. That appears to work in many cases, though the surgery and implants are still quite crude. But sounds stimulate more and more adjacent nerve fibers as they get more intense. So it might be possible to just individualize sound exposure to fairly precisely provide a boost in the "dead zones." And then the louder sounds there would at least reach some of the neurons that are not normally stimulated because of hearing loss. Toss in some theory about intermittancy etc to maximize the change in neuronal responsiveness, and you have a reasonable sounding approach to tinnitus. If this doesn't turn out to work, I think a variation probably will. SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG "Jim Chinnis" <jchinnis@SPAMalum.mit.edu> wrote in message > But I think that many feel that tinnitus is almost always due to hearing loss, > no matter how subtle. I suspect all of us have measureable hearing loss above > 8kHz, for instance. There is also a lot of evidence that even very short > spectral shifts in threshold can be associated with tinnitus where the > threshold changes. If that is true then neuromonics makes some sense. Jim, thanks for the more detailed explanation (snipped here). Very informative. Sort of consistent with T being a "phantom" phenomenon........maybe :-) Paul Jim, I've always wondered about T starting at same time in both ears at same frequency. Even at different frequencies. That is hard to fathom with hair damage don't you think? Paul "PaulS" <gatorz@bellsouth.net> wrote in part: >Jim, I've always wondered about T starting at same time in both ears at >same frequency. Even at different frequencies. That is hard to fathom with >hair damage don't you think? I'm not sure. Certainly sound exposure could do that. Why couldn't both ears be affected similarly, but with minor differences that lead to different frequency tinnitus? Imagine an immune attack on the hair cells or supporting cells of some sort. If it's the "same time" aspect that bothers you, I guess some causes would fit that and others would seem not to. But even in the latter cases, I guess that subjective localization of the sound in space to both ears isn't proof that both ears have been affected. Not sure that makes any sense. But I know what I mean, darn it! SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG "Jim Chinnis" <jchinnis@SPAMalum.mit.edu> wrote in message > Not sure that makes any sense. But I know what I mean, darn it! Whew :-) Paul > Jim, I've always wondered about T starting at same time in both ears at > same frequency. Even at different frequencies. That is hard to fathom with > hair damage don't you think? > > Paul Add to that information derived from PET scans of the auditory cortex, instances of tinnitus with no degradation in hearing, and instances of tinnitus experience by persons born deaf. The damaged hair cell theory seems weak to me. Beyond that, my tinnitus can seem to be in either ear, both ears, loud, quiet.. all over the place really. My money says its all in our brain. "Smarty pants" <bushlies@whitehouse.now> wrote in part: >> Jim, I've always wondered about T starting at same time in both ears at >> same frequency. Even at different frequencies. That is hard to fathom with [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >both ears, loud, quiet.. all over the place really. My money says its all >in our brain. I'd say that tinnitus is most often due to a disruption of normal signals to the cortex. And the most common site for the disruption is the hair cell. SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG > "Smarty pants" <bushlies@whitehouse.now> wrote in part: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > I'd say that tinnitus is most often due to a disruption of normal signals to > the cortex. And the most common site for the disruption is the hair cell. I'd say the hair cells, along the path to the brain, transduce and propagate a signal that disrupts the brain. I say this because it defies logic that my right-side hair cells would be damaged today, my left tomorrow, both the next day and neither the day after that. "Smarty pants" <bushlies@whitehouse.now> wrote in part: >I'd say the hair cells, along the path to the brain, transduce and propagate >a signal that disrupts the brain. I say this because it defies logic that >my right-side hair cells would be damaged today, my left tomorrow, both the >next day and neither the day after that. I think you have a point, but the hearing equipment is pretty complicated. Tiny changes in the inner ear could cause large changes as the brain tries to make sense out of it all in the face of an incomplete (and possibly unstable) signal. SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG "Smarty pants" <bushlies@whitehouse.now> wrote in message news:hAZPc.47 > Add to that information derived from PET scans of the auditory cortex, > instances of tinnitus with no degradation in hearing, and instances of > tinnitus experience by persons born deaf. The damaged hair cell theory > seems weak to me. Beyond that, my tinnitus can seem to be in either ear, > both ears, loud, quiet.. all over the place really. My money says its all > in our brain. Those are very good points! This discussion takes place on ast at least once every year ot two. I remain in the school of thought that tinnitus is all in our brain, but the stimulus, or lack of stimulus as the case may be, to the brain differs. Often due to ear hairs. Sometimes inner ear-independent vascular events. But the brain for sure. Show me someone without a brain, and I'll show you someone free of tinnitus :-> Paul "PaulS" <gatorz@bellsouth.net> wrote in part: >Jim, thanks for the more detailed explanation (snipped here). Very >informative. Sort of consistent with T being a "phantom" >phenomenon........maybe :-) Yes, I'd say so. SignatureJim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG My T is all over the place also, at best, which is most days I get a little tinkling sound in my right ear, but if I get into a really quite place I hear a buzzing or ring in my head which gets worse when I concentrate on it -- why I don't know. A bad day is when the noise spreads out to the back of my head, so my question is would this neuromonics help someone like me where it is intermittent or does it help people with constant T?. With my T it wouldn't be worth it, but in case it gets worse over time I wonder if it would, just in case I need it one day. -- Glenn > "PaulS" <gatorz@bellsouth.net> wrote in part: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Jim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA > Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG |
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