Scientists from the US National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) have developed a drug that is able to reverse deafness and restore hearing. The discovery could also help people with other hearing problems.
It works by ‘turning off’ the genes that are responsible for the destruction of hair cells, which are essential for receiving sound stimuli. As a consequence, hearing ability is restored. So far, scientists have tested the effectiveness of the drug in mice with a hearing impairment typical of humans (the animals were bred specifically for this experiment).
Each of the rodents had a chromosomal mutation that occurs in humans and is hereditary. In a nutshell – changes in the genetic material cause the “production” of hair cells in the inner ear to be inhibited. The result is that deafness that gets worse over time. Thanks to the drug developed by NIDCD researchers, some hair cells survived, giving rise to others. As a result, hearing in the deaf mice was partially restored.
The drug is still in the research phase – scientists want to test it on humans in the near future. – If further studies confirm the effectiveness of the drug in the treatment of human deafness, there is a chance that our discovery will help people who also struggle with other genetic hearing disorders – says Dr. Thomas Friedman, Ph.D.
More than half of the cases of deafness are of genetic origin.
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