Research With a Bang: Science Reveals How Loud Noise Damages Hearing
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Feb. 13, 2024 -- Preventing noise-related hearing loss from a loud concert, a banging jackhammer or a rifle blast could be as simple as managing levels of zinc within the inner ear, a new study reports.
Such hearing loss stems from cellular damage associated with an excess of free-floating zinc in the inner ear, researchers say.
Lab mouse experiments showed drugs that soak up the excess zinc can help restore lost hearing or even protect the ear against loud noises.
“Noise-induced hearing loss impairs millions of lives but, because the biology of hearing loss is not fully understood, preventing hearing loss has been an ongoing challenge,” said senior researcher Thanos Tzounopoulos, director of the Pittsburgh Hearing Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Zinc is a mineral essential to proper cellular function and hearing, researchers said in background notes.
But they found that inner ear levels of zinc spike hours after mice are exposed to loud noise.
This excess zinc causes cell damage and disrupts normal cell-to-cell communication, resulting in temporary and sometimes permanent hearing loss.
Mice treated with a slow-releasing compound that trapped excess free zinc were less prone to hearing loss, and were protected from noise-induced damage, researchers said in a university news release.
Researchers are developing a simple, over-the-counter medication that a person could take to protect their ears from loud noise prior to activities like a rock concert or a gun shoot.
The new study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Sources
- University of Pittsburgh, news release, Feb. 12, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted February 2024
Read this next
AI Headphones Let Listeners Hear Just One Voice in a Crowd
TUESDAY, May 28, 2024 -- New AI headphone technology can help people “tune in” to specific folks in a crowd, allowing them to better hear a speaker even in noisy...
Baby Girl Born Deaf Gains Hearing After Gene Therapy
FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 -- Opal Sandy was born into a world she could not hear. The British baby girl, now 18 months old, had a rare genetic condition called auditory...
Earbuds, Headphones a Rising Threat to Kids Hearing
MONDAY, Feb. 26, 2024 -- Many younger children could be permanently damaging their hearing by blasting loud music on their earbuds and headphones, a new report finds. Two in...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.