Hearing Restoration Project cure for Hearing Loss

Our Mission: Hearing Health Foundation is the largest private funder of hearing research, with a mission to prevent and cure hearing loss through groundbreaking research.  Since 1958 Hearing Health Foundation has given nearly $30 million to hearing and balance research, including work that led to cochlear implant technology.  In 2011 Hearing Health Foundation launched the Hearing Restoration Project (HRP), a consortium of scientists working on cell regeneration in the ear.  HRP's goal is a biologic cure for most types of acquired hearing loss within the next ten years. Hearing Health Foundation also publishes Hearing Health magazine, a free consumer resource on hearing loss and related technology, research, and products.

With your help, we can make hearing loss a thing of the past.

http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/our-research-plan

Join or donate for the upcoming Nov 3, 2013 marathon race in NY for the cure on hearing loss.

Or read their latest Fall magazine.

If cure for hearing loss isn't your thing then perhaps help find a cure for vision loss where blind mice own blindness were successfully restored with stem cells. The restoration of blindness is now within our lifetime.

Stanford Acquires Advanced Instrument to Accelerate the Quest for Hearing Loss Cure

Stanford Acquires Advanced Instrument to Accelerate the Quest for Hearing Loss Cure.

February 26th was an especially good day for the Stanford team in their efforts to move closer to finding a cure for hearing loss. In addition to the exciting Press Release on Dr. Cheng’s research findings on hair cell regeneration and hearing loss, we were pleased to announce that Dr. Heller and the Stanford OHNS team were the proud owners of a new stem cell sorter. As you may recall, there are currently only about a dozen of these instruments (costing over a third of a million dollars) available in the world. The Stanford team will be the first research group in the world to apply this cutting edge technology to overcome hearing loss.

A bit of tidbit news on the stem cell front. This news was posted in March. Read more here.

When Hearing Aid Companies invest in Regenerative Medicine on Cure for Hearing Loss

It was a matter of time when hearing aid or cochlear implant companies decide to invest in promising pharmaceutical companies on developing a drug that can either prevent further hearing loss or restore it.

One intriguing possibility for the future is the convergence of future drugs and devices. Hearing aid manufacturers have certainly not been deaf to the noises from the pharma sector. 

Sonova, the world's largest maker of hearing aids, has invested in two start-up companies - one in the United States for drugs to protect hearing and another Swiss biotech working on a treatment for acute tinnitus. 

It bought U.S. cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics in 2009 in a bid to increase its focus on the inner ear and understand how drug treatments could work with implants. 

"It will be interesting whether the innovation will be driven by pharma companies moving in or whether the hearing aid companies will branch out," said Auris' Meyer.

More and more investors are paying more attention to pharmaceuticals or biotech firms who look promising on developing drugs that target the cochlea on the restoration or improvement of hearing loss.

U.S. giant Pfizer is arguably the most advanced of the big players, with a drug in initial Phase I clinical testing trial for age-related sensorineural hearing loss that looks to enhance the function of existing hair cells.

Some of its biggest rivals are laying bets, too. Last year French drugmaker Sanofi inked a two-year research deal with privately held Dutch biotech firm Audion Therapeutics to develop small molecule drugs to improve hearing.

In October, Roche joined forces with venture capital firm Versant Ventures and biotech Inception Sciences to find molecules targeting ear hair cell protection and regeneration in the cochlea, the spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear.

Cross-town competitor Novartis, meanwhile, struck a 2010 deal potentially worth more than $213 million with U.S. biotech GenVec to develop gene-based treatments to replace hair cells in the ear that transmit sound.

"We're looking at restoration as our main line of work and we're interested in whether there are chemicals that might also play this role instead of having to introduce a gene," said Novartis research head Mark Fishman.

The question why are they investing time, resources and money for a drug that could revolutionize regenerative medicine in the field of sensorineural hearing loss? The answer is simple. The returns on their investment would be huge.

But the science is developing and investor interest is growing, piqued by the huge commercial success of recent new treatments for sight loss, such as Lucentis from Novartis and Roche and Eylea from Regeneron and Bayer. 

British charity Action on Hearing Loss conservatively puts the potential Western market for new drugs at $4.6 billion a year - a figure that could grow quickly as ageing populations swell the ranks of those with hearing problems.

With each progressive successes such as restoring some of the hearing loss in gerbils will only embolden and encourage investors to help speed up the search for a regenerative medicine for the restoration of hearing loss. It would only be a matter of time in several years time rather than decades until success in the field of regenerative medicine on sensorineural hearing loss would be realized and capitalized.  In the inexorable march towards on the cure for sensorineural hearing loss will continue to march forward and unabated. The writing is on the wall.

A cure is worth it....or not?

The now famous news of gerbils whose own deafness were nearly restored using stem cells to treat their hearing loss will probably be the turning point in medical history on the path to restore hearing loss for the human population. It'll be a matter of time until we are able to reverse hearing loss in humans using stem cells. This would bode good news amoung the many 35 million people with hearing loss in the United States. Not to mention a highly lucrative field once it gets going. I would say that 98% of the population with hearing loss would more than likely accept this news as positive and that many would accept this medical procedure for themselves instead of opting for hearing aids or cochlear implants.  The remaining population (2% of the total population of people with hearing loss) consisting of some 600,000 or so culturally deaf people would either accept this news positively, negatively or remain on the fence about it. 

Now, being culturally deaf does not mean all of them would be against this medical choice on choosing to restore hearing loss should a medical procedure actually becomes available.

Being culturally deaf also does not mean a person has to be born with a hearing loss first and learn to sign early on. Many late deafened people are culturally deaf.

Being culturally deaf does not mean a person must not wear hearing aids or cochlear implants. Or that he or she must go "au naturel" instead of relying on hearing aids or cochlear implants. Many culturally deaf people wear hearing aids or cochlear implants.

I would say that those culturally deaf people who wear hearing aids or cochlear implants would be more than likely support for the restoration of hearing loss in people using stem cells than not should it becomes available and a reality. And that it becomes a medical choice and not a law.

Would I take it?

Sure.

It'd be for my right ear only since that is the only ear that can hear well and it wouldn't take much for my ear adjust to the new clarity of sound in its natural splendor without my hearing aid for the first time in my life. As for my left ear I don't wear a hearing aid since I do not derive any real benefit due to the severe/profound hearing loss I have. Although the possibility does exist that I could "train" my left ear for years with a hearing aid and then opt for the procedure. Who knows?  I'll just bide my time and if this medical procedure does happen during my lifetime then I'll have the opportunity to make an important decision.

I'd say it's worth it for myself to see that my hearing loss in my right ear be restored and be fully functional. Others will have a different opinion about it and many would personally be against it. So, for those who are shaking their heads, if there's a cure for blindness, then please do not opt for it for yourself or for your baby if you have a serious vision problem. After all, you wouldn't want to look like a hypocrite for being against on the restoration of hearing but accept the restoration of sight?  Can't have one's cake and eat it, too.

Concerned Citizens for Disability Advocacy on Stem Cells for Deaf Babies

A blog called "Concerned Citizens for Disability Advocacy" (CCFDA) shared an opinion about the recent brouhaha by some Deaf people who are against stem cells experimentation in the field of regenerative medicine that could help babies with hearing loss. This blogger on CCFDA explained why he/she will not support such a petition that is against stem cells treatment for sensorineural hearing loss deaf babies.

After reading everything on this petition site Concerned Citizens For Disability Advocacy Blog will not and does not support this petition nor ever will and here is why.

This valuable Stem Cell Research could potentially help millions in the future. Why would anybody in their right mind want to stop research that could help others in the future unless they have some hidden agenda or selfish motives?

What next are these same people who are pushing this petition going to push for laws to take away these same types of children from their parents who are trying to help them or want to help them so others can be helped in return?

What a sad nation and a society we have become when the gift of helping others is being silenced if you will by this exclusive group pushing this petition.

It truly sickens me to no end.

Another blogger of In the Country of the Deaf, the Hearing Man is Culturally Deprived
had this to say:

A year ago I was reminded of this fact when I was trying to “help” people with hearing conditions and was set straight. Deafness is viewed as much a culture and identity to some as it is viewed a “handicap” to others. You can read the article from last year here: HEARING LOSS – GIFT OR A DISEASE?

I have the utmost respect for the culture and identity of the deaf and only want to “help” those who want to be “helped.” (Unfortunately, even words like “help” have huge implications…it seems almost every word I use is charged with the potential for offense.)
I do have one question which is spinning around in my brain at 2am while my tea grows cold and my back whispers conspiracies to my neck. This is not a challenge but merely an effort to know better and learn:

If the “with hearing” child of parents “with hearing” were to suddenly go deaf, the parents would probably do everything within their means to recover the child’s hearing.
If the deaf child of deaf parents were to suddenly gain audism, would the parents do everything within their means to remove the child’s hearing?

I would love to receive people’s reactions to this. Please fee free to comment below.

Healthfully – David

So far, there are a few deaf bloggers who have blogged about this potentially life-changing event.

Could your own stem cells in your hair follicles help you hear someday?

From the October 2009 22ND IGB MEETING STEM CELLS: FROM MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGY TO THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS:

Adult stem cells in your hair follicles seen as a potential source that could differentiate into auditory neurons.

Stem cells from the hair follicle differentiate into auditory neurons. Margriet A. HUISMAN, Ragad El Seady, Johan H.M. Frijns

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands To patients suffering from profound sensorineural hearing loss, cochlear implantation(CI) is currently the standard approach. Most implant recipients experience benefits, however, understanding speech in noisy circumstances and music perception remains challenging. It is suggested that stem cell-based therapy, by increasing the number of auditory neurons (ANs), will improve the performance of a CI1.

Stem cells, derived from the bulge of hair follicles from adult mammalian dermis (epidermal neural crest stem cells, EPI-NCSC), are potential candidates for AN regeneration: they have a similar origin as inner ear cells, their functionality has been proven and autologous transplantation is possible, avoiding graft versus host disease2,3. The aim of this research is to investigate whether EPI-NCSC have the capacity to differentiate into neurons with features of auditory neurons, such as bipolar morphology, presence of TrkB/C and GluR2/3 and sodium voltage channel 1.6 (NaV1.6)4. EPI-NCSCs from whiskers of mice were expanded and differentiated on a collagen I matrix. Subsequent t o proliferation, quantitative immunohistochemistry was performed to demonstrate the presence of neural stem cells (nestin). In addition, expressions of TUJ1, TrkB and -C, GluR2/3 and NaV1.6 were determined.

After the proliferative phase, the majority of the cells (90%) were positive for nestin. The average yield per follicle was 2x105, while for inner ear transplantation purposes 2-5x105 cells are required. 70%±8% of the differentiated cells was positive for the neural marker TUJ1. Moreover, 60%±2% of the neurons showed a bipolar morphology and the majority was positive for GluR2/3 and NaV1.6 and showed co-expression of TrkB and –C. EPI-NCSC-derived neural stem cells can easily be obtained in quantities sufficient for inner ear transplantation purposes. These stem cells have the capacity to differentiate into neurons with hallmarks of functional AN, which makes them promising candidates for a stem cell-based therapy of the auditory nerve.

Who knew? Adult stem cells from your own hair follicles have the potential and capacity to help restore your hearing loss. Problem is, bald guys are out of luck.

Blinded by my own hearing

Not me but I was pleased to hear David Granovsky's comment in his blog "The Stem Cell Blog" when he covered the Chloe Sohl's story on her miraculous recovery from her hearing loss using her own adult stem cells. David went onto say that basically he forgot about people with hearing loss may unable to hear or understand fully what the original YouTube version of Chloe's story. And that he was "blinded" by his own hearing for not thinking about a captioned version of Chloe's video story.


Related Kokonut Pundit blogs on adult stem cells and hearing loss.

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

Rush Limbaugh Donates Half Million Dollars to HEI to help Speed up Cure for Hearing Loss

Rush Limbaugh, the famous deaf radio personality and well known political commentator, recently donated $500,000 to the House Ear Institute (HEI). You can also see HEI's September 16, 2009 news release on Rush Limbaugh's donaton as well.

The HEI is known for their research role for the cure and restoration of hearing loss. Approximately 50% of HEI's annual budget comes from generous contributions. Rush' latest half of a million dollar contribution to HEI will certainly help speed up the process in finding a cure for hearing loss.

Cure for Hearing Loss One Step Closer....

Scientists were able to narrow down a key gene called Atoh1 (also known as Math1 - ) which cause cells to develop into hair cells but that these cells function like normal hair cells. So far, hearing loss may be repaired by cell transplantation using human umbilical cord Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) since they show that a small number migrated to the damaged area inside the cochlea and repaired sensory hair cells and neurons.

Researchers used sensitive tracing methods to determine if the transplanted cells were capable of migrating to the cochlea and evaluated whether the cells could contribute to regenerating neurons and sensory tissue in the cochlea.

"Our findings show dramatic repair of damage with surprisingly few human-derived cells having migrated to the cochlea," said Roberto P. Revoltella, MD, PhD, lead author of the study. "A fraction of circulating HSC fused with resident cells, generating hybrids, yet the administration of HSC appeared to be correlated with tissue regeneration and repair as the cochlea in non-transplanted mice remained seriously damaged."

Results also showed that cochlear regeneration was less in the transplanted group deafened by noise rather than chemicals, implying that damage was more severe when induced by noise. Regenerative effects were greater in mice injected with a higher number of HSC. They also found that regeneration of cochlear tissues improved as time passed.

According to Revoltella, their results suggest the possibility of an "emerging strategy for inner ear rehabilitation….providing conditions for the resumption of deafened cochlea."

This can only mean one thing and that this particular study will surely speed up the date to the day when hearing loss in humans can ultimately be cured by those with sensorineural hearing loss (i.e. nerve deafness). For the 30 million people in the United States with hearing loss, this is great news. Except, perhaps, not for some of the 900,000 cultural deaf people who sees this news as a "threat" to their cultural ideals.

Imagine...no deaf babies.

To celebrate the recent news of the advancing biotechnology that will one day, very soon, offer those with hearing loss the opportunity to have their hearing loss cured, I have a new product at my Kokonut Pundit's store. I am introducing a new design on a t-shirt for those who share the same hope that someday biotechnology will offer a medical solution to help restore or cure hearing loss that affect 30 million people in the United States. And help spread the awareness of these amazing biomedical advances.

Deafness Cure One Step Closer.....

And, no, this isn't a fake news but a real one where scientists have gotten one step closer, very close I might add, to help solve an age old problem on how to restore hearing loss in deaf and hard of hearing people.

Deaf people could one day have their hearing restored through a ground-breaking gene therapy technique, scientists reported yesterday.

They showed that they can trigger the growth of new hair cells in the inner ear that are crucial to hearing as they pick up sound vibrations.

In tests on mice they showed that stimulating these usually irreplaceable cells to grow resulted in new cells that helped detect noise.

Researchers believe the approach could eventually be used to improve or restore hearing to the 9 million people in Britain classified as deaf or hard of hearing.

Dr. Mark Downs, of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, said: "This is an exciting development which completes another important piece of the jigsaw in understanding how we might use gene therapy to eventually restore hearing loss.

"It is no longer a pipedream to talk about cell and drug-based solutions. There is a long way to go, but the journey towards new treatments is certainly under way."

Read more here. And even more details here.

Once scientists began to unravel certain key but crucial elements on how to unlock the mysteries of deafness by restoring hearing will only mean that the dominos will fall faster as more scientists join in on the search to finally help restore hearing loss. This news discovery today will only mean that research will step up even more quicker and the time til the first deaf person to have his/her hearing restored will be even more closer and not some distant pipe dream.

Amazing science!

And here's to for the restoration of hearing loss!

News! First Deaf Baby Naturally Cured of Hearing Loss

Breaking – First Deaf Baby Cured of Hearing Loss with Stem Cell Therapy

Jonathan Wiley, of England, at age 10 months became the first deaf baby in the world to be cured of his bi-lateral hearing loss through a scientific breakthrough method using a patented and specialized technique of stem cells implantation targeting the nerve cells and ear hair cells of the cochlea. Dr. Joyce Wyner, world renowned physiobiologist, describes this scientific first,

“I’m absolutely thrilled that this procedure I developed over the past several years has worked remarkably well for Jonathan. Over the course of 13 weeks the implanted stem cells have enabled Jonathan to regain all of his hearing, 100 percent. He can now lead a normal and healthy life.”

News of this spectacular success sent biotech stock named, ironically, BULL, soaring today the company that patented the process on restoring sensorineural hearing loss. CEO, Erik Venekman, of the biotech company based out of Copahagen, Denmark, talks about the next step for this amazing medical cure,

“This trial with Jonathan Wiley has obviously been a tremendous success and this is the first step of the many, many steps to help treat and cure sensorineural or nerve deafness for all babies born with a hearing loss to adults who have lived with sensorineural hearing loss. It is my expectation that in a few years this process will be available in many medical establishments around the world. Just like polio it took a world wide effort to eradicate that horrible disease, hearing loss will soon be eradicated as well. ”

Now, for those who have read this far this story is a hoax but with the advancement of stem cells or other biotechnological developments how would you react to a sudden news development that sensorineural hearing loss of a sudden can now be restored? And that babies born deaf (with nerve deafness) can now be treated and restored their hearing loss?