First case of stem cell treatment on hearing loss on humans?

From what I've found there seems to be two patients with sensorineural hearing loss iare undergoing stem cell treatments in Mexico at the Nepsis Institute from a "Ask the Doctor" which seems to be on the edge of discovering how well these treatments will work in restoring some or all of the hearing nerves.

6) Are you or can you treat sensory neural hearing loss with adult autologous stem cells? If not, do you expect to in the next year? Do you know of any doctors treating hearing loss at this point, if Nepsis does not?

Actually, we have two patients with sensory neural hearing loss who will be undergoing stem cell treatment in the next two months. The approach is unique and proprietary, so I can’t get into specifics at this time.

In time we'll find out whether if this is a success or not and if so would prove ground-breaking so early in this game rather than 10 or 15 years down the road. As always, take this with a grain of salt.

Hat-tip: Neuro

Captioned Videos of Underprivledged People Receiving their Starkey Hearing Aids

Here's a captioned video of Starkey Hearing Foundation's trip to the Dominican Republican in 2009 where 2,200 hearing aids were distributed under the "So the World Can Hear" mission. In this video there are a few kids who signed "thank you" as well as adults who gave out tearful hugs of thanks after receiving their free Starkey hearing aids. Music and song in background, captioning begins about a quarter of a way into the video.

You can find more videos of these Starkey Hearing Foundation's "So the World Can Hear" missions to Tampa (2009). Phoenix 2009 (16 MB),Peru (2009), Nepal (2008), Mozambique (2008), Malawi (2008), Egypt (2008), Puerto Rico (2008) and the NBA All Star Week (2008). The captioned video of Peru is nice with a crowd of Starkey heairng aid recipents all signing "We...love...you!" And you'll see a few signs of "Thank you" and such. In Lima, Peru, over 3000 hearing aids were distributed.

Here's a captioned video on YouTube of a recent trip to Toluca, Mexico earlier this month. you can see the thanks in their eyes, their words and gestures.