Born Deaf, Live HoH, Die Hearing

Stem cell implant continues to make impressive improvements in the area that deals with sight. One of them is Ushers Syndrome, type 1, which can causes babies to be born deaf, have balance difficulties, and then later gradually lose eyesight to Retinitis Pigmentosa. One 16 year old girl who had Retinitis Pigmentosa received a stem cell implant on May 21, 2007 improved almost immediately.

Three days after her Stem Cell Implant she noticed movement in her periphery where she was previously unable to see. As the days past she was noticing more and more. Approximately three weeks after implant she happily proclaimed that she was able to see her arms swinging back and forth in front of her as she walked the dog! A few days later she informed me that she had noticed her shadow on the ground as she was looking straight ahead! Four weeks after implant, she proclaimed “I can see my feet moving as I walk” (she was looking straight ahead). Another amazing result of the Stem Cell Implant is that her balance has improved dramatically!

Elsiha is still missing a lot of peripheral vision, but is developing areas of vision in her periphery that were long ago lost. She has said she feels safer out walking because she is more aware of what’s around her. Each time she tells me of a new development, I weep for joy! I look forward to each new day as Elisha discovers more and more she can see of a world that was disappearing into darkness.

Good news to hear that certain types of vision impairments can now be addressed with stem cell transplant. That is good news? Right? Eye sight that could be restored in such a way?

Anway, in this example it only took several weeks for her eye sight to heal to the point where she could walk outside with comfort and not fear hitting something. This may give us some insight on how fast the nerves in our cochlea would able to be restored giving stem cell implanted deaf people to become hard of hearing at first and then become progressively more like a hearing person over time as the nerves continue to regenerate and become mature. Perhaps we're looking at several months from the onset of stem cell implant until the person becomes functionally like a hearing person?

Deafness is one of the traits in people with Usher Syndrome. It is relatively common among deaf people we today. With the rate of successes seen in stem cell (adult or tissue stem cell) transplants occuring, it wouldn't much longer until certain blindness and deafness conditions could be eliminated and have eyesight or sound completely restored. Or in this case, cured.

In a June 25, 2007 article "Can you hear me now? Stem cells enhance hearing recovery" shows progress on restoring hearing loss. We keep seeing more and more of these types of news on the restoration of hearing loss using stem cells. The pressure to find out how to restore/cure hearing loss is increasing every year knowing that the amount money could be made seeing that about 30 million people in the United States with hearing loss. That's a big marketing field. It'd turn out to be bigger than hearing aid and cochlear implant industry combined.

Soon, we'll be living in a era where babies are born deaf, gets treated become HoH for a short while and then become a hearing person, and finally die as a hearing person like everybody else. Would this be so bad if this could (most likely anyway) happen? What would you say or do if we get the first deaf person to be cured of his/her hearing loss in the United States? What would you say if that person happened to be a Gallaudet University alumnus? Or if he/she is a part of the Deaf community? Or what would you say if the first deaf person cured of hearing loss turns out to be a deaf baby belonging to Deaf parents a la Sound and Fury?

I probably have a few good ideas on how some people may react to these news of a hearing loss cure.