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A man in the U.K. developed sudden and permanent hearing loss in one ear after battling a severe case of COVID-19 , according to a new report. His doctors are now warning others to be on the lookout for this rare but serious complication, which has been reported in a handful of COVID-19 patients around the world. Early identification of
We hear sounds in part because tiny filaments inside our inner ears help convert voices, music and noises into electrical signals that are sent to our brains for processing. Now, scientists have mapped and simulated those filaments at the atomic level, a discovery that shed lights on how the inner ear works and that could help researchers learn more
Inner hair cells of the cochlea (green and blue) excite auditory nerve fibers (red) by releasing glutamate, a chemical signal that helps convert sound waves into electrical signals that travel to the brain. But too much glutamate can be harmful, leading to noise-induced hearing loss. Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and their colleagues
The sensory cells that line the inner ear, known as hair cells, play an important role in our sense of hearing, but are also prone to irreversible damage from stresses like excessive noise. Scientists investigating regenerative treatments for this kind of hearing loss have made an important advance, demonstrating how a single protein can determine whether embryonic hair cells mature
Among the roles that vitamin B12 performs is keeping your blood and nerve cells healthy, as well as help in making DNA, the genetic material present in all cells. You can bet sufficient amounts of vitamin B12 in your diet. For those who follow a purely vegan diet, may struggle to fill the amount required by the body. This is because
“Large numbers” of workers in the service industry “have an elevated risk of hearing loss and need immediate hearing conservation efforts,” NIOSH researchers say in a recent study. The researchers analyzed the results of 1.9 million audiograms of workers who were exposed to occupational noise from 2006 to 2015, including audiograms of more than 158,000 workers employed in the service
Opioid use, particularly in high doses, can cause deafness, according to Rutgers researchers. The study, published in The Journal of Medical Toxicology , reviewed records from the New Jersey Poison Control Center, based at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, from 1999 to 2018 to determine the association between opioid use and degrees of hearing loss. Researchers identified 41 people with opioid exposure who experienced
Hearing impairment was linked to neuropathological hallmarks of dementia, an autopsy study suggested. In older adults who were cognitively normal, impaired hearing was associated with tau neurofibrillary degeneration, reported Willa Brenowitz, PhD, MPH, of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and co-authors. And in people with dementia, hearing loss was tied to microinfarcts but not to tau tangles, the
Preliminary findings from Harvard Medical School researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear may pave the way for trials to test bone density medications for hearing loss. Hearing loss caused by damaged nerves, whether from sound exposure or aging, is irreversible. There are currently no medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat and reverse the most common
For the past 60 years, it has been thought that age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, is driven primarily by damage to the stria vascularis, the cellular “battery” that powers the hair cell’s mechanical-to-electrical signal conversion. A new study of human ear tissues upends that thinking and identifies a new cause of age-related hearing loss—opening up new avenues for treatment